Any *Chemical* Color Treateds Here? [Archive] - The Long Hair Community Discussion Boards

Katja

March 15th, 2008, 11:10 AM

I highlight my hair at a salon every 10 weeks or so. I have been doing this long enough that none of my hair is "virgin".

I have very fine hair, so I could never keep my hair looking healthy for more than a few inches below shoulder length -- until I made radical changes in how I care for my hair about 1-1/2 years ago. I moved from:

Shampooing every day (shampoo with SLS, conditioner with cones), using cone-laden styling products and blow drying every day
to
Shampooing fewer times per week
to
Using CV poo bars 1-2X per week, with no-cone, all natural organic conditioner plus citric acid rinse

These changes have enabled me to grow my hair longer (BSL now), while still highlighting AND keeping it very healthy. In fact, my colorist recently told me that my hair was getting longer than she thought possible (I've been seeing her for years), and she couldn't find any split ends, even though I haven't had it cut for over 6 months!

redcelticcurls

March 15th, 2008, 11:11 AM

Wow, there are more here than I had realized, and you still have beautiful hair! I don't feel as odd now. :lol:

Would you all be interested in a social group? We can keep this thread too if we want to talk about what we do do treat our hair, but I was wondering if a group would be nice too.

Carolyn

March 15th, 2008, 11:27 AM

I get mine colored and high lighted at a salon. I'm not ready to give in to the grays yet. I tried but I just didn't like it. Coloring does mean damage but that doesn't mean you can't have long hair. I doubt if I could go to the ultra long lengths and still have healthy hair but waist to tailbone is all I want.

girlcat36

March 15th, 2008, 11:33 AM

A group would be good!

Polyhex

March 15th, 2008, 11:33 AM

Yes, I have light bleach highlights that I redo once a year or so. I do them myself, and I think I can spend a lot more time and patience on them than a salon could. (And I have no confidence a salon would know what to do with mid-thigh length hair.)

Iylivarae

March 15th, 2008, 12:00 PM

I dyed my hair for about 4 years, I stopped a year ago. For I always used dark colours, the damage isn't that bad. I've about 6 inches of not-chemically-dyed hair now (I use henna instead).

manyhorsesmane

March 15th, 2008, 12:09 PM

Me, and thank you for starting this thread- I was aprehensive how the reception would be~
justgreen: lovely hair! My skunk stripe is alive and well, I just can't deal with the extreme white-on-dark brown yet...!!!
I use L'Oreal and it's been good to my hair for about 6 yrs. Before that, I was Nice and Easy. ;)

manderly

March 15th, 2008, 01:48 PM

I just dyed my hair in an attempt to blend my henna with my new growth, photos in my blog.

I used Sally's Ion color with the weakest developer in an attempt to keep any damage to a bare minimum, my hair feels and looks great.

I was a drugstore box colorist before LHC for YEARS.

CopperHead

March 15th, 2008, 02:23 PM

I've been dying my hair for as long as I can remember. I grew it to almost classic length with no problems at all. It is now about waist and I have it dyed a darkish brown with L'oreal Chocolate. I just bought some Wella Cinnamon that I am going to use this week to get a little more red going. I was using henna, but it just doesn't work for me, so I dyed over it. Cinnamon is a nice reddish medium to dark brown that I have used before. Wella and L'oreal are the only dyes I use and they seem to be very gentle to my hair. I only do my roots now.

I'm glad we have a thread to discuss this subject. :)

Shanarana

March 15th, 2008, 02:30 PM

I think having a group is an awesome idea. I colour my hair when the grey starts to show. I only do my roots. I also am not ready to go grey, and don't think I ever will, so I guess that is a part of my hair care as well.

FrannyG

March 15th, 2008, 02:47 PM

I colour my roots regularly with good old Preference by L'Oreal. I don't see that changing any time soon, and I make no apologies. :)

Elfling

March 15th, 2008, 03:31 PM

I've been a faithful chemical colorer up until now :D the only thing that was ever terrible on my hair was highlights. I gave it up partially for the expense, and partially because I'm curious to see how my hair does on purely natural stuff. I certainly think it can be done in a way that doesn't kill your hair, especially if you're careful about what else you do.

chamogirl

March 15th, 2008, 03:44 PM

I use a home made bleach on my hair. It is in defense of using henna a while ago.

GlassEyes

March 15th, 2008, 04:21 PM

I'm a dye-addict. Though I henna now, I have no doubt that some day I'll be giving in to getting my hair highlighted again. I miss my purple stripes. T_T

I'm probably going to dye over my henna if I can with black soon though.

Alley Cat

March 15th, 2008, 05:15 PM

3 months ago I stopped hennaing my hair and started putting in a 15 wash out rinse, I am thinking of putting in a semi permanent in the future. I just got sick of the process of henna. :shrug:
I still go for the red colours:)

Curlsgirl

March 15th, 2008, 06:11 PM

I would join a social group or we could just do it here either one! I would keep up with it better here but it doesn't matter! I used to dye my hair so light it may as well have been bleached because I pulled it through many times. It was pretty much like cotton candy because I also blew dry it and ironed it ACK! Then I found LHC! I stopped things gradually, first blowdrying and ironing and then went to a darker color so it wouldn't be as hard on my hair. I use boxed Loreal cream preference which I LOVE in dark blond and do my roots ONLY every 3 or 4 weeks. It blends with all my hair very well and pretty much just covers the gray. I have old highlights in my length but I don't see getting anymore of those because most people tell me they like the color and I don't want to damage my hair. It seems very healthy now and I baby it except for the coloring. I am not stopping any time soon anyway. It makes me feel younger and prettier even though I like gray on others.

Glad you started this thread Redcelticcurls!

velvetcat

March 15th, 2008, 07:08 PM

I've been dying my hair for over 10 years. Mostly black, occassionally red.
My natural color is a dark ash blonde/light brown color. I've tried to go back to it a couple times, but I just hate it so much.

Plus, I have a serious Snow White obsession. I just really love having my hair black.

kmoffett

March 15th, 2008, 07:32 PM

I have been doing occasional colorings for the past few years. It's mostly just for the fun, and for a change, so I don't do it that often. And I usually use a color similar to my own, only a little redder (hubby LOVES red hair!) and mine is a reddish brown anyway. BTW, he loves your color, RCC, as do I!!!

Patrycja

March 15th, 2008, 07:35 PM

I have been dyeing my hair since I was 15 and I'm now 26.I've been red,blonde,bleach blonde,dark brown,green,blue and purple.I've recently stopped,have about 4" of natural hair color growing in.It was getting so bad with me,the last time I dyed the box dyes were not working on me anymore.Noone could tell I even dyed,so figured it was time to give it up.I do want to do henna very soon to achieve that nice cherry cola color.

redcelticcurls

March 15th, 2008, 08:17 PM

Wow! Three pages!

I asked over agt Site Support for the group.

If I understrand it, the groups were to help keep the boards clear for certain long term thread topics and to have an easier to place to find common long thread like curlies, or henna heads, etc.

Now that I know how to find my groups, they are easy enough. :)

I know there are many natural/herbal color users here, so I also wasn't sure about reception to the user of boxed or salon color. My length goals are fairly modest by standards here, so I figure it's do-able.

wintersun99

March 15th, 2008, 08:30 PM

I'm in the never ending color cycle too - chemically dyed my hair for about 10 years, then switched to henna, then henna+indigo, now I'm just plain tired of the cycle - but can't get off! I now have henna'd hair with ash-brown roots, a tiny bit of gray, don't know what to do with 'em.

wintersun99

March 15th, 2008, 08:34 PM

I use a home made bleach on my hair. It is in defense of using henna a while ago.

home made bleach? what is this, curious curious :)

Xandergrammy

March 15th, 2008, 08:45 PM

I was chemically dyed for 10 years. I stopped coloring almost 2 years ago to let my natural colors come out and play. Most of my length is still the chemically dyed hair.

redcelticcurls

March 15th, 2008, 08:48 PM

I was chemically dyed for 10 years. I stopped coloring almost 2 years ago to let my natural colors come out and play. Most of my length is still the chemically dyed hair.

Really? Wow, and your hair is super long!! And gorgeous.

There is hope...

angelthadiva

March 15th, 2008, 09:11 PM

I've colored my hair for over 1/2 of my life...It all began with a frosting cap...Bleach, bleach, bleach until my hair was blonde...I went from blonde to red to black, then stripped to red...Then to a naturalish medium brown now to a darker auburn...I use box dyes, one month I do an all over root touch up and the next month I do just the crown area to cover the greys. Thank you for starting this thread! :flower:

2BThinAgain

March 15th, 2008, 09:24 PM

I found my first grey at age 17 and then started box coloring it myself. After a while when I could afford to go I went to a salon or to a private stylist to have my hair colored. I tried the henna a few times and went back to box. I just tried henna/cassia and didn't care for the results and ended up a couple days later putting a box color on it and it looks really good. I have bleached and carmelizied my hair so much !!!!
I just went on my first date tonight since November and needless to say I don't know how he stands on me going back to my natural colour of grey and white. The white is all in the front and the grey is the rest of my head. Not too pretty and it washes me out big time.

Only time will tell if I ever go back to my natural color as I have tried it many times and never have liked it. The longest was almost a year..I got tired of looking OLD and that was 12 years ago.

I usually use GF or Loreal. Shades differ depending on my mood and what is going to match best with what's going on.

Deb in UpState NY

mathilde

March 15th, 2008, 09:25 PM

Bottle brunette here. :)

psvzum

March 15th, 2008, 09:29 PM

I color my hair-touch up roots every 3 1/2 weeks and highlight every 4 months. I've been doing this for over 20 years and my hair is in wonderful condition. I haven't measured it but would say it's 4-5 inches bsl and growing strong : )

Sian100

March 16th, 2008, 04:59 AM

My hair is a reddish dark blonde/ light brown and I use Kolesten Perfect Level 12 ash violet blonde plus 40 vol hydrogen peroxide to lift it to light ash blonde. In fact, I am doing some roots now. I do the whole head every month, and I also retouch the roots on my main parting two weeks after the whole head thing. My roots aren't obvious, but I just don't like to see them at all. The red is the hardest thing to get rid of (it doesn't suit my cool toned skin) but this hairdresser's product seems to do the trick, otherwise I would have to use bleach. The hairdresser used to bleach highlights into my hair.

I have blonde eyebrows and eyelashes plus pale skin, so people tend to think it's natural. I should keep quieter about it.

kate46

March 16th, 2008, 05:51 AM

I had been chemically dying my fine/thin hair for around 17 yrs and it was totally ruined, I have not dyed for over a year now and my hair is slowly improving, however, I have friends who have dyed for as long as I have and their hair is just fine! mind you, they do have thicker/stronger hair than I.

quidscribis

March 16th, 2008, 06:02 AM

I chemical coloured my hair for 25 years and have recently switched over to henna, which is where I'll most likely stay. I coloured in the beginning for fun (orange with black tips, platinum blonde, copper blonde, Ronald McDonald red, hot pink with fuschia, and so on). I now colour in retaliation and denial of the aging process.

I switched to henna for two reasons. One, finding chemical colourings here in the red family - or, for that matter, anything other than very very dark brown or black - was becoming more and more difficult, and it wasn't easy to start with. It reached the point where I just couldn't find anything other than black anymore, and black is not a good colour for me. So I needed to figure out something else. Two, henna is much easier to come by here, and my mother in law is my supplier. :D Three, I want red hair anyway, and what I get from henna is close enough, although I'd prefer a more vibrant closer to Ronald McDonald red if I could get it, but, yeah, close enough. Four, it's healthier for my hair.

So, while I don't chemical colour anymore, I sure do understand why a person would. :D

addikted

March 16th, 2008, 06:19 AM

I've been dying my hair for over 10 years. Mostly black, occassionally red.

Plus, I have a serious Snow White obsession. I just really love having my hair black.

Im a brunette but absolutely love the drama of black hair too. I use Sebastian Colorshines. Which supposedly contains no ammonia and washes out.

Xandergrammy

March 16th, 2008, 06:37 AM

Really? Wow, and your hair is super long!! And gorgeous.

There is hope...

Of course there's hope, silly goose. Your hair is beautiful. :flowers:

Crinita

March 16th, 2008, 07:46 AM

I use salon color. Have for... let's see, over a decade. I just got mine done again a few weeks ago and took my DSD12 in for color yesterday. I think it actually made her hair feel better as our colorist uses a jojoba based oil treatment added to the color. It turned out awesome! There is no shame in using chemical color, to my way of thinking, because there are so many choices that are gentle and/or moisturizing w/o having the cow spit smell of henna or hendigo. (That's why I couldn't use it a second time, it made my hair smell like cud, even with EO in it for scent.) I'm in for a group certainly!

Pax,
Crinita

redcelticcurls

March 16th, 2008, 09:28 AM

Here it is! Chemical Color Heads (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/group.php?groupid=82)

Gwaihiril

March 16th, 2008, 10:54 AM

Hm...not quite sure I fit in here - most of my hair is it's natural dark brown, but the last six inches are royal purple. I first dyed the tips of my hair at summer camp, purple one year and green the next. I decided I wanted to do it again and dyed the tips of my hair using Special Effects five days ago. It's semi-permanent, so should last 4-6 weeks, though one of my friends says it lasted an entire semester on one of her friends, so who knows.

Nicole Marie

March 16th, 2008, 11:19 AM

I used to be a real chemical-dye-junkie (think, once every two months, from a box :|!!) I've been everywhere from pure black to bright red, but the death of my hair was attempting to go blonde from a box last spring!!! never ever try this at home kids lol. Go to a pro, trust mee! It resulted in a huge chop to chin-length...now at shoulder...and i'm STILL not rid of all the damage!!!

tiny_teesha

March 25th, 2008, 08:16 AM

i am growing out chemical dye, i refuse to use chemical dye again though, it ruined my hair. One time probably wouldn't if it was darker- but my hair is dark enough. I might add small amount of bleach in future- but i can pretty much achieve these colours useing natural methods (henna, honey etc) so i refuse to use it again.
I have so far 14 cm of virgin hair regrowth!

heidihug

March 25th, 2008, 08:46 AM

I color my hair a dark auburn every 3 to 4 months - just the part close to my head, and streak the rest of my hair with what's left in the bottle. I use Clairol, I forget which line. If I didn't color, my hair would be this horrible mousy dark brown and would be very gray around my face. I let it go about 6 months once just to see if maybe I should stop coloring, and my husband and friends said I looked ten years older than I am. That ended that! I find that color makes my hair softer and shinier. Plus it seems to take conditioner better, both rinse-out and leave-in.

Avrilon

March 25th, 2008, 09:05 AM

I'm a bottle blonde and have been for about ten years. When I recently had a George Michael treatment, Brent Jones recoiled when I said I was thinking about letting my grey grow out when we move to our little farm. He said, "NO! You should always be a blonde!" quite emphaticially. I thought that was kind of funny! :gabigrin: He says I don't have any damage from the color and I didn't think I did, so I'll take his advice for the time being. :)

I use color that my colorist used to use. Now my husband does it for me every six weeks or so since my colorist is too far away.

:)

Avrilon

Babyfine

March 25th, 2008, 09:57 AM

I have my hair colored at the salon every 4-5 months. The stylist uses Redkens shades EQ demi-perm with a mixture of reds and browns. One is called
"Cherry Cola." Redkens Shades supposedly has no ammonia and is acid based and I can tell it's very gentle, far more gentle than anything I've used yet. I'm about 5-10% grey mostly around my hairline- I 'm not ready for that yet. I could color more often ( as the greys start to show about 8 weeks post color)but the $$ and the damage scare me off. I've thought about trying Robert Craig at home to save money but I really don't like doing my own hair, as the last time I did I caused damage using Natural Instincts a few years ago.
I used to highlight and lowlight but the permanent colors and bleach were very hard on my hair. This color is far more gentle.
I have thought about henna, but the permanancy of the henna, , and time involved scare me off for now.
Plus since my hair is already chemically treated-I would Have to go with BAQ and I would have to mix it with other things to get the color I have now and to keep from getting too red-and that intimidates me for now.
I think even the demi perm takes al toll on my super fine hair, though, which is why my goal length is about waist length, rather than longer.
If I wanted longer- I would probably have to stop coloring or switch to henna.

Babyfine

March 25th, 2008, 10:03 AM

I wanted to add that I think Natural Instincts is a good brand, but I had a perm at the time I did it,(dumb me) andwound up with really dry frizzy hair. My hair won't take a lot.

groque

March 26th, 2008, 11:24 PM

I definitely am. but I am considering going to a darker shade. I have high lights. I know for me the one thing that kills my hair is the heat. it just tears it up. I still cannot get over the fact that by air drying in rollers how many people have commented on how good my hair looks. I am so glad I learned that trick.

j4zzin

March 26th, 2008, 11:55 PM

When I had a pixie cut I dyed it every color under the sun... Red, brown, orange, blonde, blue, turquoise, green, pink, and purple... I did it all! I gave up on coloring when my hair got to my shoulders simply because it took too much time, effort, and money to buy new dyes to cover all my hair. (It's REALLY thick!)

I STILL have a section in the bottom third of my hair that's still blonde from my final skunk stripe adventure. I had a lot of fun tinting that, but it's sooo fried now (but I don't regret it!). My hair is naturally dark brown, but if you look close, you can still see the change from brown roots to reddish tint. I can't wait until it's all the way grown out so I can have 'virgin' hair again.

Miss Murphy

March 27th, 2008, 02:21 AM

I never was in the colouring-closet, but I'll happily come out for you :)

I get two-coloured highlight (medium blonde and copper), about every 7 weeks. I know I'll probably never reach terminal that way, but that's ok. Waist is fine with me.
I just love my haircolour (it adds up to a strawberry blonde, which goes great with my grey-green eyes), and I figure long hair is no good if I don't like to look at it.

Loviatar

March 27th, 2008, 07:01 AM

I've bounced back and forth between henna and chemical colour for the past X years. :)

Currently I have 4-5 inches of henna and the rest is henndigo over old black dye.

I am thinking of stripping the lot out and using a bright red chemical colour. Henna just isnt red enough. It does make my hair grow faster - I already have 1 cm of roots after 2 weeks - but I want it to look re din all lights, not just under the sun. It looks brown indoors. Sigh.

I only want to reach waist if I'm honest, so using chemicals doesn't really scare me any more. Plus I use so much conditioner and never any heat, so I suspect I'm OK, damage-wise.

The colours I used to use are Wella salon colour 6.66, boxed dyes LOreal Preference 7.6 Incandescent Red, and back in my university days I used Clairol Hydrience auburn.

royalscorpio

March 27th, 2008, 11:15 AM

Mememe!! I don't intend on stopping any time soon, either. :) I love my color. :)

Pixel Gypsy

March 30th, 2008, 02:46 PM

I'm a natural honey-ish blond but am currently dark brown and plan on staying that way for a while. My hair seems to handle chemical dyes well, but now that I'm growing out I'm being extra careful in the rest of my haircare regime to make up for the dye jobs. :p

Kirin

March 30th, 2008, 03:36 PM

I was a chemical abuser, basically LOL. Though I color with henna currently, I am toying with the idea of going back to some form of chemical color. This is mainly due to the fact i usually DON'T have three - five hours of time to just hang out with henna on my head!

So, myhair is80-20 grey / mouse black. Its horrible. I've toyed with the idea of growing it out, but I'm 39 and the last time i grew out a significant amount, anytime i went to the store i got asked if i needed the "senior discount"....... ack!

I really wish i could find something else, non chemical, but can't so that looks like the way its going to go eventually.

I wish too, someone made a SILVER hair color... so i could go totally gray / silver, and not zebra.

Ash

March 30th, 2008, 05:39 PM

I have used hair dyes since I was 17. Normally I dye my hair burgundy or auburn shades with Feria but sometimes I use black since I recently discovered that their black fades in my hair :) No more stripping my hair to get the black out! I would love to switch to henna but I don't have the time or money to get started yet. One thing I have found that helps my hair is to use a light vinegar rinse after rinsing the dye out. I believe this rebalances the PH level of my hair and it makes it feel a lot better.

Aelith

March 30th, 2008, 05:45 PM

I am a long time chemical color user. My problem is I don't have the willpower to let the old color grow out to have virgin hair again. I've gotten 2 - 3 inch roots and then colored everything again.

I basically try to deep condition very often to keep it in shape. Sometimes I make stupid decisions (like stripping color out), which takes a long time to recover from.

archel

March 30th, 2008, 08:19 PM

Good ol' Nice n' Sleazy here in "dark auburn". I also make no apologies! It covers the gray and doesn't fade that fast. Gotta do what I gotta do...

AshleyP

March 30th, 2008, 08:40 PM

Guilty!

I color my hair a lot. :P
But, its in pretty good condition anyway. I'm trying to stop, but its oh so hard.

Sunderella

March 30th, 2008, 09:06 PM

I ventured into dying the last year or so, I recently just decided to highlight and blend the new growth and gradually maybe let it go naturally silver....who knows what I will end up doing for sure :D

Pixel Gypsy

March 31st, 2008, 12:36 AM

Also, wanted to add that I use Colorsilk. Seems to color just as well as any other I've tried while leaving my hair feeling pretty darned managable, and I can't beat $3 a box! I ardently stay away from Feria dyes as I've used them in the past, then had a horrible, horrible time lifting the color from my hair. I had a stylist tell me once that she found it to the be the absolute hardest to remove boxed color.

Jeni

March 31st, 2008, 01:17 AM

I have been dyeing my hair for something like 13 years. In the past I did horrid things to it like dye it 3 different colors in 1 month, or dye it RED for a concert and spent the next week trying to get my hair back to blond, took a box of feria (turned it pink) a box of hair stripper/bleach (made it yellow) and finally a blond dye to get it to a somewhat natural color. Yea my hair was pretty much straw. Ended up cutting off most of the damaged length which meant I had a chin length bob. Since then I have been much better about how I treat my hair, lots of deep conditioning, and I don't change colors ever week.

I thought about henna, but I don't think I can make the commitment, I don't like the idea that I couldn't go back to blond if I decided I don't look good with henna red hair. Too bad, I do so love red hair.

Jeni

k_hepburn

March 31st, 2008, 03:45 AM

After getting semi-permanents done off and on I switched to permanent colours about four years ago when I realised that semis just weren't covering my (unfortunately all to early, all to numerous) greys any more. I started out using L'Oreal Excellence, and was quite happy with the result straigth after colouring as well as the condition it left my hair in, I was just a little disappointed since the colour seemed to fade rather a lot over time. I subsequently switched to Schwarzkopf Natural & Easy, lured by their promise to create a more natural look with differing facettes of colour, almost like natural highlights. Alas, that promise OF COURSE turned out to be true, if at all, then only for the root section where the colour is applied to virgin hair. As soon as you get a second coat of colour on top of the first (unavoidable, in my opinion, even if you try to restrain yourself to only re-touching the roots each time) you get the same uniformely coloured look as with other hair-dyes. To make matters worse, I was noticing that my hair seemed to get rather straw-like after dyeing lately, so for the most recent colouring I decided to switch back to L'Oreal Excellence. I used both the pre-colouring treatment as well as the after-colouring special conditionner, even though that ment to break with my no-cones routine (these things are just loaded with them). But as a result, my hair felt much better and softer this time around (I'm still sticking to no-cones the rest of the time, so the build-up, if any, should be minimal, hopefully).

Greetings

katharine

paper

March 31st, 2008, 04:28 AM

Just started coloring my hair in Nov. 07 to cover greys. I hate having to do the root touch ups. But, I'm not ready to go grey yet. And, my hair is so dark, I don't like the salt and pepper look on me. :(

Wanted to add.....After I colored my hair, my sons told me I looked 20 yrs younger! :D

Jeni

March 31st, 2008, 01:30 PM

k_hepburn- I've been using L'Oreal Excellence for awhile now, I really like it. I think the pretreater has really helped the ends of my hair. I love the conditioner, wish they sold it by it's self. My hair loves cones though.

Jeni

manyhorsesmane

April 5th, 2008, 04:33 PM

Aelith: I agree with you entirely! I just cannot bear the idea of dealing with my skunk-stipe up on top of my crowning glory, plus those strays around the hairline up front, so I let it grow out 2 inches and then there I go again, covering it up. White over Dk Chestnut Brown does not appeal to me...

What do you use to deep-coindition? I just did mine today, and I used Queen Helene Cholesterol: http://www.queenhelene.com//haircarechol2.php
This stuff is absolutely heaven and I was so happy to find it again at our local Walgreens~the online price from their website is good too, I am going to order the Super Cholesterol Hair Conditioning Cream 2 lb. with dispenser pump next and keep up with it at least every 3rd coloring from now on, if I'm to continue to color.

Archel: Good ol' Nice n' Sleazy LOL~ I was using that too, until about 6 yrs ago-I graduated to L'Oreal Preference/Excellence (?) for superior gray coverage, on sale at Walgreens for $6.99. Well worth it, doesnt dry my hair out and the color does last about 2 weeks longer.....they've come a long way in 20+ yrs........

Hey, I've name-dropped Walgreens in 3 posts already today~ can anyone tell we just got a new Walgreens last Dec??? We be moving up to the Big Time now, here in Elkhorn, WI...we even have a McDonalds too! LOL!

Riot Crrl

April 5th, 2008, 04:38 PM

Everything but the very top inch is henna over Feria, if that counts.

curls2grow

April 5th, 2008, 07:24 PM

I like this thread! Thanks for starting it! Here's where I am in the process of chemical processing...

I have been getting my hair colored at a salon for too many years. I finally decided last May to start growing my gray in -- and we did that gradually by foiling my darker color to break up the demarcation line. That has worked well, but my hair was still redding out -- used a 2N, so it was pretty dark when freshly colored. I got tired of having my narural salt & pepper, plus the dyed color and the fading out color. So last time I went to my HD, I told her no more color, but I wanted to keep doing clear gloss to help with shine and to help smooth the difference in textures between my old dyed curly hair and new salt/pepper curly hair.

For a while, I have been contemplating buying the Robert Craid Clear. I ordered 2 boxes today. Has anyone used RC Clear and liked it?

manyhorsesmane

April 5th, 2008, 07:32 PM

Hey Curls2grow, would you be so brave as to post what you've got, so far? Some of us might be more inclined to grow out our gray if we saw that it's not going to be as bad as all that we've imagined...or am I just fooling myself ??? LOL

anyway, ok if you don't want to but would be nice to see how it looks so I can get my nerve up to quit coloring someday~

Diamondgirl2003

April 5th, 2008, 09:00 PM

I am chemically treated. I want to give it up and try Henna but I'm not to sure, I have been researching it though. If I don't do Henna I'm going to do Loreal's Natural Match it has no ammonia. but I am so itching for a new color!!!

whatevergirl

April 5th, 2008, 09:50 PM

I color my hair at home with L'Oreal Excellence Creme.
I touch up the roots every 4-6 weeks, and about every
3 months I will apply all over the hair to freshen up the
the color a bit.:)

curls2grow

April 6th, 2008, 08:32 AM

Manyhorsesmane, I am flattered that you would ask to see a picture - :) I will try to get a decent one this week and will post it.

justgreen

April 6th, 2008, 08:58 AM

Be careful with henna, it is not removable at all. Even cassia is a pain after a while. I'm so glad I never tried the cassia, I was very tempted. I would be inclined to grow my silvers out if they would ever decide to come in heavier!

shellblue1

April 7th, 2008, 12:45 AM

Oh yeah, I definitely am a chemical hair color user.

My fave color products:

Wella Color Charm Demi-Permanent color (only @ Sally Beauty)
Wella Color Touch Demi-Permanent color (sold only to pros)
Paul Mitchell PM Shines Demi Permanent color (only sold to pros)
Miss Clairol Conditioning Permanent Hair Color (sold @ Sally Beauty)
Clairol Radiance Color Gloss Demi-Permanent color (sold @ Sally Beauty)

cupcakeblonde

April 7th, 2008, 12:55 AM

I go to the salon, which they use loreal blondie. A gel based more gentle bleach that only works on virgin hair, even if it overlaps onto previously died, it doesnt activate there so no risk of extra damage, great stuff!

tiny_teesha

April 7th, 2008, 12:55 AM

Everything except the first 14cm of my hair is chemical dye with henna on top. I don't intend to use chemical dye ever again- although i'm toying with the idea of bleaching a stripe for fun, but that will happen much later. My hair hates hair dye!

groque

April 7th, 2008, 02:20 PM

Hey guys, just did my new growth and added in some low lights of 6GN in my hair and it looks great. I wish I would have figured out a long time ago that I just needed lowlites in my hair to make it look great. I have been highlighting for a long time and was always scared to do it.

but I love that I can come here and post since I am trying to get to waist length. Since coming here my hair is finally past my BL by 2 inches and looking healthy. yay.

zelah

May 21st, 2008, 08:47 PM

I am also a chemical dye user. :D I've been highlighting/dyeing my hair since 7th or 8th grade. At present, it is a very dark brown color (or will be, after I dye it again tonight!). Several friends of mine have commented on their favorite dye job over the years: a "tiger" style in which I used black, blonde, and red in my hair, while leaving some of it still brown. It was really great, but now that I'm a "professional" (heh) I don't have the room to do that again yet.

So does anyone have any tips to share? Especially regarding keeping your hair silky w/o cones. I've found that when I use oil on my hair it takes out tons of the color. Enough so that after I used it, a girl at work the next day asked if I'd dyed my hair again. Eek!

30isthenewblack

May 21st, 2008, 09:25 PM

I'm so glad you started the thread. I put a semi permanent colour in my hair and have half a head of foils. As my hair is curly, I can get away with dying my hair every six months. My hair has a lot more volume and life with colour.

I am quite moderate about my hair length as well and would be happy if it was at bsl when it is curly. I would rather have coloured hair than have long hair that lacks vibrancy and volume. For me, it's a compromise that I'm willing to make.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2332/2500728601_06a073e3db_o.jpg

www.30isthenewblack.com (http://www.30isthenewblack.com)

RavennaNight

May 21st, 2008, 09:38 PM

I am a chemical dyer too. I turn blonde into blue black. Quite on the regular. I havent fried my hair because I oil often and put away my flatiron. I've considered henna but decided against taking that risk and not being able to undo it withoutconsiderable pains and damage.

Poppy Seed

May 21st, 2008, 10:14 PM

Yay! Another thread for those of us who can't join the 'natural' methods!

I dye to black, as I dislike my natural colour a lot (not really brown not really blonde). I have done for about the last 10 years - no virgin hair here!

I tried henna/indigo during October 2006 - October 2007 (if I had my old diary I could probably be more precise), but it didn't take very well and the colour wasn't as dark as I wanted, it also seemed to 'wash out' very quickly. Back to the box. Additionally, it took basically a whole day to do each time, and I really don't have that much time. I was not willing to try sleeping with it as it's a messy enough process when I'm awake!

Here’s how I try to protect my hair during dyeing:
- I try to stretch out the time between retouching the roots: I usually get about 8 weeks, sometimes more - depending on how busy I am - between colourations.
- I always dye on dirty hair (so, instead of doing the weekly wash, I dye) and so the natural oils help to protect the scalp and roots.
- I NEVER put colour on the length – the only colour it gets is as the dye is being sluiced off my head in the shower.
- I use Extra Virgin Olive Oil and drench my ends and the last 6-8” of hair before I begin the dyeing process, to try and help protect the length as the colour is rinsed off.

The rest of the time:
I comb and almost never brush. My hair is pretty nearly always up in a bun, which helps to protect the ends and length – it also means I don’t have to comb as much because it isn’t terribly tangly. I do tend to put sweet almond oil on the ends of my hair after the weekly wash.

I probably don’t trim as much as I should though…

Ruadh

May 21st, 2008, 10:49 PM

I've colored for many years now. I just don't like the way gray looks on me. I use Garnier Nutrisse as close to my natural color as possible and color only the roots about every 4-6 weeks. Every 6 months I color the shaft as well for the last 10 minutes as the color tends to fade. In between colorings I condition a lot and oil or use shea butter (which I have recently discovered and prefer!). I started doing micro trims in January to get rid of some nasty ends left over from before I found LHC and to let my layers catch up. I stopped blow drying over a year ago and don't use any form of heat on my hair. Over all I feel my hair is in the best shape its been in for a long time. I think as long as you don't over do the chemicals you should be able to minimize damage and have healthy hair. I firmly believe that controling stress plays an even greater role in maintaining healthy hair. I have noticed that during times of major stress I tend to shed, which is a little off topic but is relevant to over all hair health. IMHO, it seems that if new hair growth starts out healthy it should be less suseptible to damage.

Aronomy

May 21st, 2008, 10:50 PM

I highlight my hair every 3 months. After each highlighting I do a dusting trim (1/4th inch). I think my hair is doing okay. About two years ago I decided....this is not blonde enough, I want to be all over white/platinum blonde like the playboy models...

That was very bad. Do not bleach your entire head twice in a row to achieve "lightest possible".

With highlights I feel the damage is not as bad since only 20% of my hair is getting colored. I love the look, so it's worth it to me. I love blonde hair :D.

darl_in1

May 22nd, 2008, 02:08 AM

Oooh. Me. me. I do.

I have my hair highlighted with 3 colours (a reddish strawberry blonde, mid blonde and an ash blonde) with chunky highlights - they need to be chunky or they get lost in my hair as it's so thick.

peachy.pudding

May 22nd, 2008, 02:30 AM

30isthenewblack

May 22nd, 2008, 05:58 AM

Hello i am a former hair abuser, the reason i decided to grow out my blonde locks (dye) to my natural golden brwon was because i could not decide what colour i liked best, one minute i was a hazel blonde, then a white blonde, then a strawby blonde etc, so i was constantly dying over previously dyed colour.

reason number 2: my scalp used to burn for 45mins, and turn very white from the dye, i hated roots so i would bleach every month and still that was not good enough.

reason 3: my hair got unhealthy and so i wanted my natural shine back

reason 4: my natural colour suits me best, and i wanted to find out what that colour was before i went grey

reason 5: no more fake colour i am all natural

reason 6: no more sitting around hours on end recking my scalp each month

reason 7 : NO MORE ROOTS

reason 8 : my scalp is in better condition

reason 9: no more splits

reason 10 no more frequent hair cuts!!

This is a support thread for people who colour their hair. I'm not going to rise to your thread but simply say that I don't agree with everything that is posted on this board nor do I think that everyone looks good with long or natural hair but I do respect the choices that people make. I'm sure there a lot of threads that you can make a helpful contribution to.

suicides_eve

May 23rd, 2008, 11:59 AM

Thank goodness i found ya'll *giggles*- man i can't say how many times i have gone a picked up a box of color from walmart and almost bought it. I have had great sucess in my goal of having virgin hair but LOL it's so boring I have been soooooo tempted to have hightlights put in and i think i will definitely be doing that after seeing how beautiful and healthy everyones hair still is.
i am still scared i might relaspse and to go back to my old ways of bleaching my hair every other week to archive bolder brighter colors.
i think if i pace my self and take baby steps it shouldn't be so bad. Highlights would be great for summer.
thank you for reminding me i can still have great looking hair and play with colors.

Tap Dancer

May 23rd, 2008, 12:26 PM

I've been coloring my hair for almost 8 years. For the first few years, I did all-over color every other month. I didn't know better back then but I never noticed any damage from it. Now I color the roots once a month. I colored before to try out lighter shades of brown. I color now to cover the white hairs with a shade that matches my natural color.

Eirinn

May 23rd, 2008, 12:48 PM

NorthernDancer

May 23rd, 2008, 12:58 PM

You can add me to this group!

I've colored my hair for the first time right after I moved out on my own at 17, I'm now 23. My mother wouldn't let me color before that, but I don't even think it was a month later when I colored it.

I'm natrualy a dark/ash blond or a light brown. I can't remember which, it's been so long now! :P When I first started I used a light blond, then went to a REALLY light blond (almost platinum) but that made my hair look orange, so that didn't last long. Since then I've slowly been moving from that to my natrual color. I'm still lighter then that, but not by much. It's been great on the roots though. You really have to look at it to see them.

I use Lorel Preference 8A (ash blond) or the 8-1/2 (champaine) and I LOVE IT!! I often wonder if I should try to go natrual now that I'm so close to my own color, but I LOVE the way my hair feels when I color. I only color about ever 8 weeks, but when I do I can feel a big difference in my hair. I spend most of the next day just playing with it because it feels so smooth! I am totally in love with the conditioner that they include. I haven't found anything that makes my hair so soft as that. I did try switching to Revlon for a while, which was ok, but it didn't leave my hair smooth and soft like the Loreal does.
I normally just do a plain color, but next time (which is in a couple weeks) I'm going to do highlights. Maybe even highlights and lowlights (darker). I think that will give a nice multi-tonal look without being outragous.

I had a major color problem a few months ago. I tried to got to the Loreal Expert, the one with the base color and the highlights included. Well they didn't have my normal color as one of the (very few) options, so I chose a dark ash with light blond highlights, thinking that by going darker and lighter then my normal color it would even out to be the same. It turned my hair WAY dark (almost black), and it added a greenish tinge to it. I quickly called a friend-of-a-friend who is a stylest and said WHAT DO I DO NOW??!!?? He said that some hair doesn't like that dark ash and to get rid of the green I needed to find a color that was warmer, because that had red in it, and that would counteract the green. So I did that and it helped, but I ended up coloring like 3 times within that next month to try to get rid of the green, but that made my hair majorly dry and I had major split ends (I normally have very few). My hair is now FINALY getting back to what it used to be. But I learned my lesson: NOT ALL HAIR CAN ACCEPT DARK ASH COLORING!!!!!!!!!!!!
I thought I would tell this story so that anyone out there that is thinking about coloring with dark ash would think before they do it. You might not have a problem, but before you try, do a test to make sure this doesn't happen to you!

Cinnamon.locks

May 23rd, 2008, 09:35 PM

Does it count if you only color 3 times a year?

manyhorsesmane

May 23rd, 2008, 09:42 PM

atlantaz3

May 23rd, 2008, 09:52 PM

Last highlight was in August last year. I have managed to avoid the spring high light session so far. Maybe the sun will add a few more lighter strands for me. My hair dresser does a really good job with the low lights matching my natural color. I will probably highlight again towards the end of summer through - Labor Day is a big event with my car club. With regular SMTs I don't think I have too much damage - I was more worried about the flat iron used for my dusting than the highlights!

RavennaNight

May 23rd, 2008, 09:54 PM

I am a habitual chem dyer. I have been since I was 13 and am now 29. I used to bleach blonde. My natural tone is a mousy brownish blonde. Its boring! It doesn't pop or say "Pow!" in any way shape or form. I now have gone opposite spectrum for 3 years, and dye Garnier 100 percent blue black. I love the color. the cool tone works with my cool and fair skintone. I looked into natural alternatives. I studied this site and its links to so many wonderful henna sites. But I can't do a whole day process of henna and indigo. My chem dye is a sure thing. I'm careful, and do only roots. I've seen some chem hair on this site that has given me hope that I can dye and have long hair too. Here's to trying and otherwise being good and staying away from plug in heat devices of mass-destruction.:cheese:

Mitzy

May 23rd, 2008, 11:59 PM

Add me. (I may have posted in this thread already, but I don't remember if I did) I have been just doing some ashy highlights to try to let my gray come in some. I don't have any objections to gray and that is not why I started coloring, but I hate the growing in period. And I like changing my hair. So shoot me. I just had my roots done and it looks really good! Argh! I will probably go back to black soon. I love my hair black, which is almost my natural color, but naturally I have a very red tint which I am not overly fond of.
So, yeah, coloring here.

Katurday

May 24th, 2008, 01:03 AM

I've got like 99.9% chemically colored hair that I'm matching with henna and indigo on my roots.
Blerg I'm a natural black haired person, and I've been blonde, purple, blue, black, black again...
*cry*

FrannyG

May 24th, 2008, 07:04 AM

What do the rest of you do to protect your ends when you colour your roots?

I have found great success with coating my length with shea butter before touching up my roots. I don't use the coney conditioners that come with the hair colour, but with using shea butter, I don't have that "just coloured feeling". My hair feels as soft and silky as ever after colouring.

30isthenewblack

May 24th, 2008, 07:16 AM

I've been using Jojoba butter which has Shea Butter in the ingredients list. I moisturise my ends every night and I've noticed that my hair has hardly been shedding at all. I got my hair done as recently as last week but I tend to leave a few months between appointments. I'm lucky because my hair colour is close to my natural hair colour and with curly hair, you cannot see the regrowth as much.

curls2grow

May 24th, 2008, 08:01 AM

OK, I know it's not really "coloring" but I am supposed to do my first ever at-home attempt using clear gloss on my hair -- I've never done any form of coloring at home before. I am nervous about it, since peroxide is involved in the Clairol brand (got a new box in a swap). I have Robert Craig Clear in the house for future use, too. Cross your fingers for me that I don't ruin my hair! Seriously.

Velvettt

May 24th, 2008, 08:27 AM

Hello i am a former hair abuser, the reason i decided to grow out my blonde locks (dye) to my natural golden brwon was because i could not decide what colour i liked best, one minute i was a hazel blonde, then a white blonde, then a strawby blonde etc, so i was constantly dying over previously dyed colour.

reason number 2: my scalp used to burn for 45mins, and turn very white from the dye, i hated roots so i would bleach every month and still that was not good enough.

reason 3: my hair got unhealthy and so i wanted my natural shine back

reason 4: my natural colour suits me best, and i wanted to find out what that colour was before i went grey

reason 5: no more fake colour i am all natural

reason 6: no more sitting around hours on end recking my scalp each month

reason 7 : NO MORE ROOTS

reason 8 : my scalp is in better condition

reason 9: no more splits

reason 10 no more frequent hair cuts!!

And you thought this was appropriate for this thread WHY?:rolleyes:

I am a happy dyer. I use L'Oreal Excellence in 7 1/2 A - Med Ash Blonde. I coat my length with coconut oil before I colour my roots every 7 or 8 wks, and I leave the dye on for almost an hour. If I use the shorter, recommended time, I don't get full colour on the virgin roots. If you think that I am a "hair abuser" as the quoted person does, check out my profile page for my picture. I don't think it looks abused.:D

See the lovely streaky look it has in my siggy pic? That's just the way it goes, it's not highlighted. Although if I had to highlight to get that streaky look, I'd be doing it ASAP.

justgreen

May 24th, 2008, 08:57 AM

Hello i am a former hair abuser, the reason i decided to grow out my blonde locks (dye) to my natural golden brwon was because i could not decide what colour i liked best, one minute i was a hazel blonde, then a white blonde, then a strawby blonde etc, so i was constantly dying over previously dyed colour.

reason number 2: my scalp used to burn for 45mins, and turn very white from the dye, i hated roots so i would bleach every month and still that was not good enough. You are not supposed to get the bleach on your scalp.

reason 3: my hair got unhealthy and so i wanted my natural shine back Hair can be bleached (correctly) and still have plenty of shine *see siggy*

reason 4: my natural colour suits me best, and i wanted to find out what that colour was before i went grey Lucky you!

reason 5: no more fake colour i am all natural (still wondering why you posted here)

reason 6: no more sitting around hours on end recking my scalp each month I go to the salon once every 4-6 weeks and get pampered for two hours

reason 7 : NO MORE ROOTS Not a problem if you are taking good care of your hair

reason 8 : my scalp is in better condition My scalp is in wonderful condition, I know better that to apply bleach to it, and I also know how to dilute shampoo

reason 9: no more splits I have virtually no splits and get a slight dusting off the ends only once a year

reason 10 no more frequent hair cuts!! *see #9*

I'm going to have to agree with Velvettt on this post.

Sian100

May 24th, 2008, 11:42 AM

Well, I'm glad that this thread has helped someone feel superior to others. :)

ETA: I don't think I've posted on this thread before; I use 1 part Kolesten Level 12 ash violet blonde mixed with 2 parts 40 vol hydrogen peroxide, left on for 45 minutes. I have to credit Summr for this. On the "old" board, I started a "Bottle Blondes" thread, and she and others gave me a lot of helpful advice. My hair is naturally dark blonde, but with some red in it, and anything but bleach meant it turned out too golden (my skin is cool-toned, so ash blonde suits me better). Now, for the last year's growth :oops:, I have very pale ash blonde hair. I notice where the colour becomes more golden, but that's because I'm very critical of myself. Other people can't.

Most people think that I'm naturally blonde as my colouring is very pale, and I'll probably keep on being blonde for years to come. :)

justgreen

May 24th, 2008, 12:31 PM

Rock on Sian!

Tracyarts

May 24th, 2008, 01:02 PM

Not sure if I have responded or not on this one, but I get mine dyed with chemical color in a salon. The color I get is a violet-red based dark brown. It's really vivid in bright light, a purplish-wine color and I just love it. I don't really want my hair to be any longer than elbow length, so there hasn't been much of a trade-off when it comes to length vs. color. As long as I take proper care of it, it stays nice and healthy.

Tracy

amaiaisabella

May 24th, 2008, 04:49 PM

Hello all. I posted on this thread a while ago, but I have a new question!

Have any of you seen a difference between permanent and demi-permanent color? I have been a color addict for about 6 years but I wasn't taking care of my hair- thus dry, straggly, very sad hair. I have been stretching out my coloring times (I was going every 3 weeks) and moved out to 7 weeks, which helped bunches.

But the most I noticed a difference was when I did a demi-permanent. I got really soft, super shiny hair and I am totally in love :) My goal is to do it 3 times a year since the roots are not at all noticeable after 7 weeks (and counting) but I LOVE the shine.

Oh, and another question- I have noticed most people go for a dramatic change than their natural hair color, but are there any of you who do it just to "brighten" it up a bit?

Velvettt

May 25th, 2008, 12:33 AM

Oh, and another question- I have noticed most people go for a dramatic change than their natural hair color, but are there any of you who do it just to "brighten" it up a bit?

Sure. I do. My hair darkened from its natural blonde to a nondescript, mouse brown when I had children. I look awful in any shade of brown. Add grey to the mix and ewwwwww. I need brighter hair for my skin tones and medium ash blonde is it.

And Justy and Sian -- you rock!

NorthernDancer

May 27th, 2008, 03:29 PM

I have noticed most people go for a dramatic change than their natural hair color, but are there any of you who do it just to "brighten" it up a bit?

I do this! My natrual color just a LITTLE BIT amount darker then my "box" color. My hair got darker as a teen, which I didn't like, so I'm pretty much dyeing to the color I was before that.
I was a mousy "dish water" blond, and now I'm an champaine/ash blond. I like this much better. My hair is also better behaved when I color. That's why I want to continue coloring even thought I'm now so close.

30isthenewblack

June 5th, 2008, 05:07 AM

We had a temp at work today who had gorgeous hair that was hip length. She colours her hair and straightens it with the hair iron as well. I spoke to her about her hair and she says that it grows two inches per month on average and last year she cut her hair into a bob and it's already grown back. I know a lot of girls in Australia who have long hair down to their waist which is chemically treated. I wanted to share this story with you as inspiration that it is possible to colour your hair and also grow it long.

Curlsgirl

June 5th, 2008, 07:39 AM

FrannyG

June 5th, 2008, 07:42 AM

justgreen

June 5th, 2008, 08:09 AM

I will be doing just that, mixing highlights/lowlights only, once my grays come in a bit more. I have faith in my colorist. I don't think I'll be losing her anytime soon, as she and her hubby moved here from South Dakota a couple of years ago for his own company. She opened up her own salon which is booming and his company is going very well. She said they will retire here. =)

Curlsgirl

June 5th, 2008, 08:17 AM

30isthenewblack, thanks for the inspiration. Good heavens, imagine hair growing 2 inches a month! It's mind boggling! I love hearing happy hair stories. :)

I dye all of my hair these days, so I can't be of much help, Curlsgirl. Back when I did get highlights though, it was on top of my natural colour, and I would go every 4 months or so.

Carolyn and Justy can give you more insight though.

I just can't believe how beautiful and natural your highlights are. I'm in complete admiration. :inlove:Thank you Franny!!! :love: I really am pleased! I told her natural neutral blonde. She did it EXACTLY like I told her. Whew! I guess I'll just have to watch it and see. She said I don't have a tremendous amount of gray and it's mostly on top, not the sides really or anywhere. I am thinking only highlights would be better than both but honestly I think I will still do okay. My hair is very strong apparently. Stopping the harsh brushing and so much heat helped it more than anything I think.

I will be doing just that, mixing highlights/lowlights only, once my grays come in a bit more. I have faith in my colorist. I don't think I'll be losing her anytime soon, as she and her hubby moved here from South Dakota a couple of years ago for his own company. She opened up her own salon which is booming and his company is going very well. She said they will retire here. =)How often do you go again Justy? Sorry, getting toward 50 :p Do your roots ever bother you?

justgreen

June 5th, 2008, 09:39 AM

How often do you go again Justy? Sorry, getting toward 50 :p Do your roots ever bother you?

I go every 4-6 weeks and no my roots don't ever bother me.:)

Forever_Sophie

June 5th, 2008, 09:42 AM

I get highlights every few months, and every other time I have some lowlights added, too :) My dark hair makes the color tend to go brassy so I use Shimmerlights shampoo once a week.

Jean Genie

June 5th, 2008, 09:57 AM

Oh yeah, I belong on this thread. I have had most colors except for green and blue. I keep gravitating towards black, with some brief forays into red from time to time. Since I discovered that Loreal Hair Color Remover works great removing black color without trashing my hair too much, this has only encouraged me to change the color from time to time.

I just tried going back to my "natural"* brown, and I'm already bored and missing the black. So it will probably be back to the blue black for me soon enough.

I do use cones to S&C (Pantene for color treated), but I just use jojoba oil as a styling aid, and I think this has gone a long way towards protecting my hair.

*I honestly don't know what my natural color is - medium brown? I haven't seen it since middle school ;) It could be grey for all I know!

vindo

June 5th, 2008, 10:13 AM

I started dyeing my hair at the age of twelve and stopped 11 yrs. later at hip length. After using the same semi perm. dye for years my hair started breaking off on top of my head.
I hav grown out my chemical free hair to shoulder. I use red henna only nowadays..:)

Aronomy

June 5th, 2008, 10:22 AM

JustGreen, do you think highlights are healthier than overall bleaching? Or is it simply the way you care for your hair that makes a difference? I'm in love with the idea of platinum blonde, your hair looks like the lightest color (my ideal color hair).

vidgrl007

June 5th, 2008, 10:45 AM

ive had blk hair,not a good look 4 me.ive also had red hair not a good look either.ive just come to the realization that when i dye my hair it virtualy stops growing.i didnt realize until reading this thread . does any one else have this prob?my hair color is kinda a bldish brown.i guess i will start cassia obovata.

justgreen

June 5th, 2008, 11:00 AM

Make sure you want the cassia, because several here have done that and ended up cutting off MOST of their hair because you cannot get rid of it.

Isilme

June 5th, 2008, 11:20 AM

justgreen, are you sure you aren't confusing cassia with henna? Henna is permanent, cassia seems to go away for most people.Both the golden tinge some of them get and the conditioning.

Ohio Sky

June 5th, 2008, 01:41 PM

Me too!

Ive been chemically dying my hair for about 6 years now, everything from bleach blonde to red to black to blue. My end have been through dozens of dye jobs and probably 4 or 5 bleachings, and theyre still in pretty good shape.

I tried the henna thing, but not only do I dispise the smell and the orange color, but it just didnt do much for my hair. Everyone talks about henna leaving their hair so thick and shiny, but Ive done 5 or 6 full head hennas and noticed any improvement.

So, back to chemical color it is. Right now Im in the process of lightening some streaks in it, then as soon as I find a color Im content with I will probably maintain with a dark brown semi perm and maybe henna glosses as I still have quite a bit of henna left.

ETA: My goal is somewhere longer than where it is, but I wont really know till I get there. Maybe tailbone if I can make it there with my hair in good condition and my ends looking good. Im almost at waist as it is, so if my ends with all theyve been through are still happy then I have confidence I can hit tailbone with good results using dye on occasion. I generally only dye every 2 months or so because Im lazy :)

FrannyG

June 5th, 2008, 02:41 PM

Make sure you want the cassia, because several here have done that and ended up cutting off MOST of their hair because you cannot get rid of it.

Justy, I think you're confusing Cassia with Henna. Cassia is used as more of a conditioning coating to the hair. I've used it as a blonde, and while it does give a yellowish colour to very light blonde hair, that may or may not be desirable to someone, it does completely wash out after 2-4 few weeks.

That's why Cassia users do their whole head once a month or so.

I should also say that if someone wants to use Cassia, it has to be 100% Cassia Obovata which is perfectly safe for colour-treated hair. The so-called "Neutral Henna" found in drugstores should never be used on colour treated hair.

justgreen

June 5th, 2008, 03:02 PM

I might be confused, but I thought someone here had problems with cassia and her hair stayed tangled all the time, so she cut it off.

Either way, you should do trials with a hair swatch before using either one.

Toadstool

June 8th, 2008, 05:36 AM

Have made an appointment at thye hairdresser's to have my hair dyed light brown on Wednesday.

missy60

June 8th, 2008, 11:40 AM

I hadn't checked in to this thread for a while but I am glad I did! I just got highlights and am considering stopping the root touchups and only getting highlights. The girl who did them did a great job and I got just what I asked for. She said she could blend the gray and lt. brown coming in with some lowlights too so the roots wouldn't be so noticable. I wonder how often I should go? I guess if I don't like it I can still do the dark blond on my roots in between and get highlights at the salon a couple of times a year. Hmmmmmm, any thoughts?

Yeah I was wondering how this would work on root touch up. How the grey would not be noticable when it growed out. This would seem like the best solution if it would work it seems like you would still need to touch up just as much because your hair would grow just as fast. Keep us posted on this Im really interested.

Moiraine

June 8th, 2008, 03:31 PM

I wish I could go grey "gracefully" like many of the ladies here who have beautiful shiny silver hair. My grey hairs are "patchy clumps" not all going thru my hair "sliver threads among the gold" as I would wish them to. So it's the dye bottle for me.

I am awful about doing my roots tho. My roots are about 5 inches long and I am looking very frumpy now so I got my colour today and will have my daughter put it in. Then she can trim an inch or so off for me. The last time she trimmed was about 6 mos ago and I want to even up my hemline to keep it thick:love:

nastasska

June 8th, 2008, 05:03 PM

I'm in the Chemical Club now I'm just not ready to embrace the white ones yet :lol:
I've had problems with colour fade so any advice about preventing that would be great I'm having a semi permanant on Thursday as i have a whole stack of white regrowth

The good thing about regrowth is you know your hair is growing the bad thing is it shows up so much I swear my white hairs are extra white i mean really vividly white :evil:

Dolly

August 28th, 2008, 01:03 PM

Can I please join your group?

I was bored with my natural dark brown, and then the graying hit! OH NO!!! So, what did I do? I chemically dye mine about every 6 weeks....a shade that they call "Intense Deep Red"....It is about as red as it can get, and I love it!!

My hair had issues with Preference and Feria.....BUT my favorite is Hydrience.

Ohio Sky

August 28th, 2008, 01:11 PM

Hi there Dolly. :waving:

You can't join the actual social group until you have 25 posts, but you're welcome to post here with anything you wish to discuss.

I'm heading back towards red, too. I last used a Deep Burgundy Brown by Garnier which I am loving. It's a very deep dark red cherry color on the first 4-5 inches of my hair, but unless the sun catches it just right, the length is still just black. So black that it looks blue at times. I like both colors. :shrug:

Dolly

August 28th, 2008, 01:14 PM

Thanks.....I wasn't aware of the posting limit.

Don't you just love the reds? I wish mine was naturally red, but (sigh), mine isn't that exciting.....

Honey39

August 28th, 2008, 01:19 PM

Oooh, can I join??? I was feeling like a total fraud, because I got my hair coloured at the weekend! I get it done every three months, and have highlights put in it. I have no splits, because I used to get all new growth cut off. now i want to grow it, I'm not sure if I can have longer hair ands still dye it. But I CANNOT have the natural colour, there is just too much grey. I just don't like it, on me.

I did think about henna, but...I don't know, if it doesn't work, then there is nothing to get it off again, right? Plus this way, I get the colour that I want (I have gone a bit darker this time).

Sigh. Nice to see this thread!

Eireann

August 28th, 2008, 01:20 PM

I've been coloring my hair for years now. Prematurely grey hair runs in my family, and while I admire the long silvery locks I see here, I myself will probably be one of those 95 year old women with jet black or bright orange hair! There was a brief period about 8 years ago when I had a short pixie cut and didn't color it, figuring the best time to grow it out was when it was so short (picture Jamie Lee Curtis). I liked it for a time, but I soon went back to being a chem-head.

Dolly

August 28th, 2008, 02:13 PM

I have no splits, because I used to get all new growth cut off. now i want to grow it, I'm not sure if I can have longer hair ands still dye

I color mine every 6-8 weeks, and mine has gotten down to just past my bra strap. I just trim religiously, don't use heated styling tools, and only good stuff to wash (right now I am doing CO washings, but am getting ready to try CV shampoo bars). I think that you can still grow it and dye it, as long as you do other things to minimize the stress.

Dolly

August 28th, 2008, 02:14 PM

CopperHead

August 28th, 2008, 02:41 PM

I've grown my hair from pixie to almost classic while dying it. I keep the ends trimmed and use gentle products and have had no problems. I can't see being stuck with a hair color you hate when there are so many options. I have just swithed to Ion Color Brilliance and love it. I am now using Medium Burgundy Brown and have lots of reddish plum highlights. Their developer is very gentle and made for sensitive scalps. Smells great too. Both the developer and color are full of conditioners and leave my hair very soft and shiney. :)

UncommonTart

August 28th, 2008, 02:53 PM

Wow. I used to color my hair; it was a fantastic red and I loved it to bits. As it got longer, it just got to be too much to deal with. The color faded so quickly, it seemed like I was always having to do whole head rather than just root touch ups, and with my hair that meant three bottles of color (MC MAX Sinful Ruby, I miss you so!) and my whole afternoon. Finally, I just lost the patience for it. Now, with a few years and some chemicals under the bridge, I'm back to my natural color, but I really miss my red hair. I suddenly feel inspired to try it again. I don't think they've made that color for a while now, though...

CopperHead

August 28th, 2008, 03:05 PM

If you have a Sally's near you, take some time and just browse the different hair colors. You might find something close to Sinful Red. Ion makes some fantastic reds. :)

Dolly

August 28th, 2008, 03:31 PM

UncommonTart

August 28th, 2008, 04:24 PM

If you have a Sally's near you, take some time and just browse the different hair colors. You might find something close to Sinful Red. Ion makes some fantastic reds. :)

I use Hydrience Ruby Twilight (and have for a couple of years now), which they describe as "Intense Deep Red".....I absolutely adore it! I have never had so many compliments on a hair color before.....

Oh, wow... I think I might. After all, it never hurts to look, right...? I'd love to have red hair again. I am a bit worried that I'll wind up in the same boat as before, with it fading too quickly, but I think I'm still going to have a look for that new perfect red. Thank you!:D

plainjanegirl

August 28th, 2008, 05:07 PM

I have colored. This year I colored in February ( I think it was) and then again in May (because I thought the difference in what was growing in was awful , but others didn't notice it). It turned out quite dark. I am hoping to truly stay away from the color. But I can tell you that even while coloring I grew my hair out to my waist. SO it can be done.

plainjanegirl

August 28th, 2008, 05:08 PM

Also for those of you with colored hair ( cause I know from experience that it tends to be pretty dry) I saw that Clairol is now selling their conditioner separately .....the conditioner that normally comes in a box of haircolor.

cani

August 29th, 2008, 04:26 AM

i dye my hair black every 6 weeks since 4 months.
before i used henna and indigo for years. but indigo makes my hair kind of grey and crunchy :(
i use garnier movida now- it´s demi permanent.

i´m so happy to see that so many women dye their long hair and it´still healthy and beautifull!:flower:

Hatsumomo

August 29th, 2008, 04:36 AM

I have some of the darkest brown in the L'oreal Preference range underneath my henna. No visible roots though other than the henna ones.

Blueglass

August 29th, 2008, 09:55 AM

I have some chem highlights now. It's worked out well so far. My hairdresser says I can still use cassia if I want. The twany henna were just getting too dark as I was always changing the tones slightly.

Curlsgirl

August 29th, 2008, 11:36 AM

I realized I cannot wait 6 months to get highlights like I had hoped. I went three with 2 toners in between though and that worked pretty well. She did get it too light this time though on top. I probably could get her to do something but I think I may just use some shimmer lights and see if that will tone it down a bit. it is always a little light when she first puts toner on it. I like it way better than when I did it though. I love Aveda color.

Ohio Sky

August 29th, 2008, 12:03 PM

now i want to grow it, I'm not sure if I can have longer hair ands still dye it. But I CANNOT have the natural colour, there is just too much grey. I just don't like it, on me.

I did think about henna, but...I don't know, if it doesn't work, then there is nothing to get it off again, right? Plus this way, I get the colour that I want (I have gone a bit darker this time).

Yes, don't go to henna unless you're absolutely sure about it. Some have gotten a fair amount out with a ton of bleach and lots of time, but most have to cut it out.

My hair has been through hair h3ll. The last probably 10 inches of my hair have been through bleach sessions no hair should survive. Like the "let's see how long I have to leave this cr@p on my hair to go to blonde from jet black" kinda sessions. Multiple times. I have only trimmed off about 1" since then, and my hair is almost waist and is in fine condition. No splits in sight. You just have to baby your hair in other ways. It depends on the individual, too.

Wow. I used to color my hair; it was a fantastic red and I loved it to bits. As it got longer, it just got to be too much to deal with. The color faded so quickly, it seemed like I was always having to do whole head rather than just root touch ups, and with my hair that meant three bottles of color (MC MAX Sinful Ruby, I miss you so!) and my whole afternoon. Finally, I just lost the patience for it. Now, with a few years and some chemicals under the bridge, I'm back to my natural color, but I really miss my red hair. I suddenly feel inspired to try it again. I don't think they've made that color for a while now, though...

Be very cautious doing anything to hair that long that you're not sure about! Henna definitely wouldn't fade, but that goes for when you want to get rid of it, too. And it is a PITA to the Nth degree. You may want to do a temporary dye first to make sure you really want to color before committing to anything permanent.

Also for those of you with colored hair ( cause I know from experience that it tends to be pretty dry) I saw that Clairol is now selling their conditioner separately .....the conditioner that normally comes in a box of haircolor.

That's good to know. I love that coney conditioner. :D

Dolly

August 30th, 2008, 05:23 PM

You just have to baby your hair in other ways. It depends on the individual, too.

I totally agree with you on this. I think that you CAN chemically color and still have healthy hair. Even though I color every 6 weeks, I do not use harsh shampoos (I CO now, and am getting ready to try CV shampoo bars), I do not use heat styling implements (I wet set on soft (fabric) rollers), and I basically baby it in general.

30isthenewblack

August 30th, 2008, 05:36 PM

UncommonTart

August 30th, 2008, 08:13 PM

Be very cautious doing anything to hair that long that you're not sure about! Henna definitely wouldn't fade, but that goes for when you want to get rid of it, too. And it is a PITA to the Nth degree. You may want to do a temporary dye first to make sure you really want to color before committing to anything permanent.

So.. Henna really doesn't fade? At all? Excuse me for asking what I'm sure is a stupid question, but I honestly did assume that everyone said that because it was impossible to get out once in, but that it must fade in color some, turn lighter or something. Every red dye I've ever used has faded dreadfully, after all. Wow... As far as not being sure, I loved having red hair. It was just getting to be too much at my length, and constantly having to color my whole head. I was even considering cutting it shorter, in order to make the red more practical for me.

And now, I am going to go read more about henna...

Elayne

August 30th, 2008, 08:45 PM

So.. Henna really doesn't fade? At all? Excuse me for asking what I'm sure is a stupid question, but I honestly did assume that everyone said that because it was impossible to get out once in, but that it must fade in color some, turn lighter or something. Every red dye I've ever used has faded dreadfully, after all. Wow... As far as not being sure, I loved having red hair. It was just getting to be too much at my length, and constantly having to color my whole head. I was even considering cutting it shorter, in order to make the red more practical for me.

And now, I am going to go read more about henna...

At least for me, It really never did fade, after the slight color shift in the first few days, Its pretty much stayed the same color for, oh I guess its been around 3 months since I hennaed it. Which is why I don't dye my hair chemically anymore. After several years of dying my hair red constantly, I have to admit, I got fed up with the rapid fading. Not only did it fade fast, but it faded to less red than my natural somewhat reddish hair color, so I couldn't really go back to normal. Well, not without cutting my hair short (not going to happen!), or serious two toned-ness. So yes, henna is probably going to be pretty permanent, whether that is a good or bad, so be very careful.

On the topic of the thread, I guess I don't really count as a chemical color treated anymore, although I did for several years, always professionally, had a great colonist until I moved a few years back. Never found anyone as good where I live now, and after a particularly bad experience, I decided to try henna instead, since more red was what I was after in the first place.

heatherainsley

August 31st, 2008, 12:05 PM

I color my hair with black or burgundy depending on what is on sale i have dyed my hair for many years dont do it till i cant take my grays anymore lol 9 kids give you gray early.

Dolly

September 4th, 2008, 06:47 PM

I've never done henna for the simple fact that, from what I read, it is so easy to screw it up and get the totally wrong shade. And, it sounds so permanent that it would probably be difficult to correct. So, I'll just go with the chemical colors that I can predict the results from, and give my hair lots of TLC to counteract any damage it may cause.

redcelticcurls

July 16th, 2009, 11:26 PM

Bumping an old thread.

Laika9

July 17th, 2009, 12:16 AM

Hi redcelticcurls...so glad you posted this, I was frenetically trawling through the threads looking for stuff about chemical colours having just ahem turned to the bottle myself...

I'll look thru this...my idea was that, to atone for the sin of colouring chemically I would now start to wash with conditioner instead of shampoo...

Thanks! I'm sure this will be useful to so many of us...

Dementia1013

July 17th, 2009, 12:56 AM

*raises hand* I'm not growing anything out... but may I join? :D

redcelticcurls

July 17th, 2009, 01:08 AM

Dementia, you have the best head of dye here!

I'm not growing my color out either. I prefer the red, and henna gives me dry hair (odd, I know)

So, I'm sticking with the Wella stuff I get done at the salon.

My length goals are modest, so I do think that for me, chemical color and longish (by standard societal standards anyway) is not an unreasonable goal.

WaimeaWahine

July 17th, 2009, 05:11 AM

Naturally, my hair is not natural. I like my chemical dye and have zero interest in henna. It's a personal choice.

At some point very soon having jet black hair will make me look older and haggard and it will no longer make me appear younger. (I'll probably return to shaving my head then.) This reality occured to me just the other day after having put on some makeup that wasn't the right color. Combined with jet black hair and sickly pale skin I looked fairly cheap and the attention it got me was not shall we say, positive. Oh well. :o

Babyfine

July 17th, 2009, 08:25 AM

My hair is a few inches longer than my avatar pic which was taken in June 2008.
(I need to get some new pictures up) So I'm BSL. I seem to stay there b/c I like blunt hemlines and get thin ends after that,my hair seems to get icky after BSL but it did that even before I ever colored(in high school).
I have my hair colored every 4-5 months in the salon with Redkens Shades EQ the color you see in my avatar. My natural color is chestnut brown shot through with a little grey.
I have really wanted to try henna- but I'm scared because it's permanent, the time and effort involved and I don't want to lose my waves which I've worked so hard to get following the CG method. My hair is fairly healthy since I baby it in every other way-no heat,alternate gentle non sulfate shampoos with Nioxin once a week, lots of conditioning. I really would like to get to waist length but my hair is very fine and fragile-so I need to really baby it. The dye is the only bad thing I do- and it's a demi-permanent dye-not a permanent. If I ever get to need a permanent dye due to more grey- I will either just let the silvers come in or go to henna-. The few times I had permanent dye in my hair it really chewed up my hair.
My goal is a healthy waist length, I don't know if coloring is keeping me from getting there or not.

JamiG

July 17th, 2009, 09:28 AM

I get highlights in mine, but am thinking of coloring a darker color so I don't have to have it done so often because of roots showing. I'm a dark blonde but get much blonder highlights. I would like to grow to waist, maybe tailbone. Hoping the color won't hinder if I don't do it too often.

Laurel32

July 17th, 2009, 01:31 PM

I am growing out my chemical treated hair. :) Its kind of nice to be able to visually see my natural color growing out and monitoring progress that way.

Eireann

July 17th, 2009, 01:39 PM

I love my natural color. . .except for the part that is grey! I'm am a devout chemical colorer. I used to henna way back when I had very short hair, because it wasn't a big deal to grow it out. I know henna is more natural and less damaging, but from a color standpoint, it's a MUCH bigger commitment!

lundmir

July 17th, 2009, 04:11 PM

I use both henna and chemical color in my hair. I have to bleach it first, since it is pretty black, and I love bright red.

CurlyGirlCa

July 18th, 2009, 11:16 PM

I don't think I can ever go natural - my hair grows fast and the roots show gray in less than three weeks. Optimally, I should chemically dye it every two weeks - but I go between 3-4 weeks. I mostly just do the roots - every 4th time or so go all the way down for a short period of time.

However, I only wash 2-3 times a week with sulfate-free - minimum cones, air dry - rarely flat iron/blow dry, oil with jojoba. I'm going to try the coconut oil and picked up some camellia oil at the Japanese market today.

This forum is very helpful with all kinds of hair and needs.

RancheroTheBee

July 18th, 2009, 11:18 PM

*wave* Hi hi. I've been chemically coloring for as long as I can remember. I should stop, I know, but I really hate my mousy brown.

shadowclaw

July 18th, 2009, 11:42 PM

I color my hair, and with fairly cheap stuff from Walmart! I use Garnier Nutrisse to lighten my hair. So technically, I'm bleaching and coloring my hair. I've been doing it since I dyed my hair black and then changed my mind. I have been unable to match my original hair color since then and just kept dying it to keep the roots and the length the same color. Now my roots are coming in a lot darker, so I keep dying because I don't like the "dishwater blonde" look.

Garnier recently changed the picture on the box of color I use (Butternut), and when I did my roots last, they came out darker than usual and with a coppery cast :mad: I tried going over it a second time, but I think I made the copper color worse. I suspect they changed more than the picture.

I gave henna a try this week to try and even things out. I did a gloss and succeeded in giving my whole head a nice golden color, but the roots are still a bit darker. In addition to the nice color, the henna also repaired some chemical damage and restored moisture and smoothness to my ends. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do next... I'll have to dye my roots with the boxed color and then henna in order to get the same color again.

My basic hair care regime has been deep conditioning every week to help keep my hair moisturized. I also find that my hair likes protein every so often. Since coming to LHC, I've done a few SMTs and honey masks, which really moisturize the dry parts of my hair. I find that I prefer the honey mask to the SMT.

Fox's Shea Butter Cream really helps protect my brittle ends, too. My ends have been so much nicer and stronger since I started using the cream.

redcelticcurls

July 18th, 2009, 11:54 PM

My hair is a big fan of rich conditioners, so I rely on that. It also helped me out when I switched to air drying. At least that was one thing I could do to help, and I get get fewer splits and white dots after that.

I can do keratin now and again. I give it a hit about a week after I get color done, and when I get curl droop not fixed by moisture. I'm a bit too coarse for regular/frequent protein.

juliaxena

July 19th, 2009, 01:59 PM

Oh oh oh me me me...I'm so glad this thread was bumped up...I felt so lonely. I'ma dedicated artificial blonde. Had a bad blonde henna experience.

suicides_eve

July 19th, 2009, 02:12 PM

Arielle8960

July 19th, 2009, 02:38 PM

I'm still trying to figure out what color I want my hair to be. It was reddish-blond when I was younger, so I had highlights similar to that color put in. They looked nice for a few months, then turned really light and too orange-y. I've since dyed over them with Natural Instincts in a few different shades. This last round I put in a color similar to my natural color, a medium ashy brown, which only confirmed that I don't like the color. I think a chocolate brown is next. I'd love to find a way to use henna, but I'm a little commitment-phobic at the moment.

akilina

July 19th, 2009, 03:08 PM

I do :[ My hair is naturally pretty light. I'd love for all my hair to be virgin hair. I keep dying my hair dark though and I hate the way growing color out looks. I can't have this dark brown reddish hair and super light ash hair too. It would look silly. I should have just stayed blond a few months ago when I had made it that color. It would have been okay to grow out with those roots.

Velvettt

July 23rd, 2009, 12:49 AM

I posted on this thread a year ago when it began. I'm just returning now to tell all you chemical colourers that I'm still using the same L'Oreal Excellence in med ash blonde, still coating my length with coconut oil, putting the bleach/colour combo on my roots and leaving it on for an hour. I do this roughly every 8 wks.

This is what it looks like.

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb245/Velvettts/72109.jpg

Don't let anyone tell you that dyed hair can't be shiny and healthy or that you MUST get it professionally done to be safe.

redcelticcurls

July 23rd, 2009, 12:52 AM

Velvettt, your hair looks great!

If nothing else, I hope this thread does show those who choose to use chemical color that they can still grow their hair out to some sort of long.

Gypsy

July 23rd, 2009, 01:10 AM

I've been coloring my hair for about 15 years, I suppose. At first for fun, then to cover the grays that were coming in faster than they were before that (I got my first gray at 21 but the grays only came something 1 every 6-8 months. Barely noticeable.).
So, I have so much dye in my hair that it won't take color changes now if I want to deviate from the current dark brown. I have always done my own color but now I guess I have to go to a pro to get the color stripped in order to dye for fun and function again. I used to be able to darken, lighten a couple shades, bleach and color, use not occurring in nature colors, do ulti colors with total cooperation from my hair but now.. She rebels... If I try a slightly lighter color, only the virgin roots change and leave the length dark.

Cherry_Sprinkle

July 23rd, 2009, 01:13 AM

I color mine :) My stylist does touch ups about every 6-8 weeks and I highlite about 2 times a year.

templeofvenus

July 23rd, 2009, 02:13 AM

I colour mine black with either garnier or naturtint, not ready to embrace the greys yet! :)

Desideira

July 23rd, 2009, 04:54 AM

I color my ahir once every two monts or less in salon. Today I am going to dye it but I kind of dont know what shade I choose. I often chage shades but alwyas stick to blonde

juliaxena

July 23rd, 2009, 12:23 PM

How do you ladies repair dye damage?

heidihug

July 23rd, 2009, 12:40 PM

How do you ladies repair dye damage?

With hair, what's damaged is damaged, and you can't really repair it - if you are talking about dryness, splits, etc. However, you can hide the damage in a number of ways:

Oil your ends generously
Use silicone hair products, such as conditioners and leave-ins
Give yourself micro-trims (less than .25" nipped off the ends)
Wash a little less frequently to prevent your hair from getting stripped of its natural oils
I am sure I have forgotten some. Not all of these work for everyone, but experiment and see if any of them help.

Curlsgirl

July 23rd, 2009, 01:28 PM

I am glad you bumped this thread RCC! Your hair is looking LOVELY by the way! :love:

I am still going to the salon for highlights regularly, just on the roots. I changed salons because the "Aveda" salon I was going to was not doing the job anymore and then after I switched I found out it was not an Aveda salon at all that they just used Aveda products!!! I was DUPED! Anyway, I went to a different salon 3 weeks ago and they did a very good job and it seems to be lasting well. They did something called a "brightener" after the highlights and in my avi you can see how they straightened my hair after. It felt SO gloriously silky! I enjoyed it like that for 8 days before I had to wash! I do have some damage on the last few inches but it is not noticeable. Curly hair is forgiving in that way! So I am proof that you can get to waist coloring chemically at least with a medium hairtype. I think fine hair would be mroe of a challenge or so I have heard. I also baby mine in a lot of others ways such as only washing once or 2 times a week, heavy conditioning and oiling, combing very gently, brushing only rarely etc. CO doesn't do well with me except occasionally so I use a color-safe shampoo usually and it has sulfates. Then I use a leave-in of Biolage conditioning balm and a curl cream along with some coconut oil on top. The damage I believe is mostly from a salon I went to once about 6 months ago that darkened my hair too much and I had to get fresh highlights over it on the length. :( I was SICK! I may get them cut off soon because they do bother me even if no one really notices but me!

CelticAngel

July 23rd, 2009, 02:02 PM

Got mine done two weeks ago, after going over ten years with no chemicals in my hair, just because I wanted red hair. Now the red has faded, and my hair is dry. I guess I learned my lesson.

Berúthiel

July 23rd, 2009, 02:15 PM

I came to LHC after using chemical black hair dye for three years straight (coloring about once every two months). I've been here for about two years and I'm STILL trying to grow it out. gah.

Naamah

July 23rd, 2009, 02:16 PM

I used to color my hair, the last time I did was a few months ago. I only have about an inch and a half of virgin hair right now. I don't think I'll color my hair again, but then again I've said that before. :p

lundmir

July 23rd, 2009, 08:43 PM

I tried to go natural and dye my hair black with indigo to let it grow virgin, but I couldn't get it anywhere and can't shop online, so I'm stuck with bright red. I'm not complaining, I love this shade!

GlassEyes

July 23rd, 2009, 08:49 PM

I henna my hair, but chemically (well, technically vegetable) dye the bleached streaks at the front of my hair red. So far, I've done it with Manic Panic, which sucks a rather lovely amount. I dyed...what, less than a month ago...yes, I dyed my hair on July 3rd, and it's already fading to a lovely strawberry blonde/light ginger.

I've decided I'm not too fond of the red, either, what with the rest of my hair being somewhat burgundy, so I've decided to go with a burgundy dye next time, either Special Effects (my go-to long lasting unnatural dye), or if I feel adventurous, a mix of Pravana dyes. I haven't decided yet, and I'm going to let it fade as much as I can stand before dyeing again.

redcelticcurls

July 23rd, 2009, 09:35 PM

How do you ladies repair dye damage?

Well, I'm CO and staying off of the cone and sulfate wagon has seemed to help me keep my hair in decent enough shape so that taking the color damage isn't so bad.

I do a protein treatment about 10 days after I color. I also use an acid rinse weekly (either ACV or Bronner's Conditioning rinse) because it does help make my cuticle feel smoother, although it's just a fix. If there is cuticle damage from color, there is no way to repair it per se; you just learn to work with it.

I also use deep conditioners as needed. I use either Aubrey Honeysuckle Rose or Curl Junkie Curl Rehab.

Also, I think it helps that I'm a C. It can take a little more than some F I think.

My hair isn't a huge fan of oiling. I don't mind a bit for sealing between a leave-in and gel, but otherwise it's one of those things that really does nothing for me.

I did wean myself off of the diffuser and now air dry. That helped me a good bit. I still own a diffuser in case of emergency, lol, but I've learned to go without it.

I figure if I limit damage from other ares, I can handle the dye damage more readily.

redcelticcurls

July 23rd, 2009, 09:36 PM

I was hoping you'd pop in with your long, lovely highlights!

I'm glad that you have a salon that is so good about working with just doing your roots!

I am glad you bumped this thread RCC! Your hair is looking LOVELY by the way! :love:

I am still going to the salon for highlights regularly, just on the roots. I changed salons because the "Aveda" salon I was going to was not doing the job anymore and then after I switched I found out it was not an Aveda salon at all that they just used Aveda products!!! I was DUPED! Anyway, I went to a different salon 3 weeks ago and they did a very good job and it seems to be lasting well. They did something called a "brightener" after the highlights and in my avi you can see how they straightened my hair after. It felt SO gloriously silky! I enjoyed it like that for 8 days before I had to wash! I do have some damage on the last few inches but it is not noticeable. Curly hair is forgiving in that way! So I am proof that you can get to waist coloring chemically at least with a medium hairtype. I think fine hair would be mroe of a challenge or so I have heard. I also baby mine in a lot of others ways such as only washing once or 2 times a week, heavy conditioning and oiling, combing very gently, brushing only rarely etc. CO doesn't do well with me except occasionally so I use a color-safe shampoo usually and it has sulfates. Then I use a leave-in of Biolage conditioning balm and a curl cream along with some coconut oil on top. The damage I believe is mostly from a salon I went to once about 6 months ago that darkened my hair too much and I had to get fresh highlights over it on the length. :( I was SICK! I may get them cut off soon because they do bother me even if no one really notices but me!

GlassEyes

July 23rd, 2009, 09:39 PM

I think that as long as you treat your hair properly, taking a bit of damage from color isn't going to completely destroy your hair. If you can limit the damage in excess outside of the coloring, I don't think the hair is going to be terrible, barring excess bleaching for lightening. :shrug: Even less for deposit-only dyers.

That said, I'm unsure how my bleached front hair will hold up in the ong run. It's still growing at the moment (I have roots already), but the hair doesn't show length for a while, so I can't tell if I have breakage. So far, no splits though. :cheese:

heatherdazy

July 23rd, 2009, 09:48 PM

I've heard somewhere that oiling the hair can strip/alter your hair if it's colored. What is everyone's experience with that?

Gypsy

July 23rd, 2009, 10:02 PM

Hmm.
As long as I've been coloring my hair and using various oils, I haven't had a problem with the color being stripped.

redcelticcurls

July 23rd, 2009, 10:09 PM

I've heard somewhere that oiling the hair can strip/alter your hair if it's colored. What is everyone's experience with that?

I've read of those who intentionally use it to fade color in the first couple of days.

Glycerin makes color fade more quickly on me, but I think it's a red thing.

justgreen

July 23rd, 2009, 10:14 PM

I'm coming up on my 4th year here and I'm still an avid root bleacher with thick healthy hair. Haven't had a trim or dusting in 19 months, so I'm going to do that soon, maybe about half an inch.

Desideira

July 24th, 2009, 12:28 AM

Yesterday I dyed my hair at salon. OMG I dont remeber being so pleased with color and the way my hair lookd after dyee. I freeaking love it!:pegasus:

Before I went to salon for the first time I heavy oiled my hair with coconut oil and argan and left it in a bun for 5 hours. I can say its may be a reson why my hair looks so nice.

Its in exact shade as in the pallete wchich is preety hard thing to do on my many times colored head. I used semi permanet non amonia color. I was always a diffuclt customer becuase I was never completly pleased with result but yesterday I was leavinghair salon happy like never before. I will stick to this color and to oiling with coconut oil

I feel so good:cool:

Maddy25

July 24th, 2009, 06:49 AM

I dye my hair with chemical dye -_-

But my hair is surprisingly healthy and doing well. I am currently trying to grow out my natural blonde hair to get rid of this chemical blonde, but its going to take a long time! My plan is once my virgin hair starts to really stand out and create noticable roots, ill just get a few highlights on the top layer to break up the line so itll grow in nicer and not drive me nuts!

Curlsgirl

July 24th, 2009, 07:04 AM

I was hoping you'd pop in with your long, lovely highlights!

I'm glad that you have a salon that is so good about working with just doing your roots!Thank you so much RCC! I am so glad you are back here posting regularly! :) I LOVE LOVE LOVE your red curls!

I've heard somewhere that oiling the hair can strip/alter your hair if it's colored. What is everyone's experience with that?Hasn't done it with me that I have ever noticed. BUT after I get color I let it go as long as I can until I wash it again. And I always use coconut oil.

I'm coming up on my 4th year here and I'm still an avid root bleacher with thick healthy hair. Haven't had a trim or dusting in 19 months, so I'm going to do that soon, maybe about half an inch.Glad you popped in Justgreen! You and Carolyn have been my hair mentors since I came here!

justgreen

July 24th, 2009, 11:40 AM

Glad you popped in Justgreen! You and Carolyn have been my hair mentors since I came here!

Thanks Curlsgirl! I rarely come to the dark side.:eyebrows: But felt I needed to give you guys some support!:) I love your avatar, btw!

Curlsgirl

July 24th, 2009, 12:06 PM

Thanks Curlsgirl! I rarely come to the dark side.:eyebrows: But felt I needed to give you guys some support!:) I love your avatar, btw!

Thanks!!! I'm glad you did. I am sure you will be an inspiration to others here as well!

Velvettt

July 24th, 2009, 05:47 PM

I've never lost any colour from oil on my hair. The only colour altering things I've found are honey and ACV. Honey is famous for lightening some people's hair but on me, it just stripped the colour off. ACV adds an orangey tint if I use it too often.

juliaxena

July 27th, 2009, 09:32 AM

Ladies, how do you protectc the lenght of your hair when you dye your roots? Really anxious to hear all about it.

shadowclaw

July 27th, 2009, 09:52 AM

How do you ladies repair dye damage?

You can't really repair damaged hair, exactly, but there are a lot of methods I've used to make the damage less noticeable. Protein treatments help with my dyed hair. If my hair ever starts feeling poorly, a good protein treatment usually fixes it. I deep condition frequently, and do heavy oilings. I've also stopped using SLS shampoo as often. Maybe once every other week. Sometimes once a week if I feel my hair needs it. Oh, and I've also gone no-cone for the time being. I never had a problem with cones, but my hair is loving no-cones, although at first, I discovered split ends galore!

I would also like to note that doing a henna gloss really improved my hair. I believe the henna filled in some of the damaged spots and smoothed things out. I wouldn't recommend doing this if you dye your hair a very light or ash blonde, as the henna gloss makes hair a golden blonde, and it darkens it a bit.

Ladies, how do you protectc the lenght of your hair when you dye your roots? Really anxious to hear all about it.

I actually never did anything to protect my length until my last dye. When I dye, I only apply it to my virgin roots, and very little gets onto my length. However, I dye very infrequently because my natural color isn't too far off from the color I dye it, and my hair also looks fine two-toned, so I let the roots grow out for a while before coloring.

For my last dye, I covered my hair in coconut oil and let it sit overnight. This protected not only my length, but the hair I was dying as well. Ktani has done a lot of research into this. See this thread: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=10495

juliaxena

July 27th, 2009, 10:04 AM

I'm looking for something that will create a barrier between the dye and my lenghts. When I do roots, quite a lot of times the dye slips onto my lenght. I tred with vaseline once and it did create a barrier but it was damn hard to get out, had to clarify 6 times. If coconut oil does not prevent the dying process then it is not quite a barrier tha I'm looking for. Some people recommend conditioner but I'm not sure that would prevent dye from reaching hair strands on the lenght of my hair.

Babyfine

July 27th, 2009, 10:15 AM

As for protecting the length-since I have mine done in a salon I don't do anything myself per se-, I don't shampoo for several days before to help protect the scalp and the length.
I alternate protein and moisturizing deep treatments every other week. Deep treatments have helped my hair retain length a lot.
I oil the ends before each shampoo and shampoo every 3-4 days, alternating between Nioxin step 3 and Jessicurls HCC. I tried going CO but it didn't work for me.
I use a demi color only-permament color is too hard on my "F" hair. This has helped my hair look a lot healthier.
So far I'm only about 10% grey or so, so semi's and demi's work.
If I ever need to go to permanent, I'll have to switch to something like henna, or Maybe Robert Craig color.

Babyfine

July 27th, 2009, 10:24 AM

I've heard somewhere that oiling the hair can strip/alter your hair if it's colored. What is everyone's experience with that?

I do avoid oiling the scalp part for several weeks after I color since I use a demi which fades.
I go ahead and oil the ends all I want, about 2 weeks after I color, to let the color "set". MY hair is colored with Redkens Shades which is a deposit only/demipermanent color. The ends get quite dark over time so I don't care if they fade a bit, and they never have no matter how much oiling I do.
I'm covering up a few greys in front which seem to pop out quite quickly, so I do every thing I can so it doesn't fade too quickly. So I don't oil the scalp, and even cut down on shampooing the first few weeks after I color, to get the most out of the color.

Velvettt

July 27th, 2009, 10:50 PM

I oil my hair from ears down with coconut oil before colouring my roots. I don't worry about getting the oil out when I'm rinsing out the dye. If some is left on, good. I don't wash my hair for at least 48 hours after dye, so the coconut oil has time to soak in, if there is any left.

The time that the dye spends running down the length in the rinse process is not long enough for it to penetrate the coconut oil.

Iphigenia

July 29th, 2009, 06:23 AM

another "fake" red here. i'm a blond but have been having it coloured at the salon for 5 years. they do a good job, it looks natural. most people think it's real.

i want to start growing my hair longer, and i'm not sure if this colouring will keep me from it.

i'd love to try something more natural at home, but i'm really scared of the result. as a teen i did a few "do it at home" things and it always turned out predictably horrid!

Pegasus Marsters

July 29th, 2009, 06:25 AM

I always re-dye my length along with my roots... roots first for like 20 minutes, then ten minutes on the length to refresh the colour. Red fades like no one's business so I have to re-dye it pretty regularly to keep the colour vibrant.

Medievalmaniac

September 1st, 2009, 05:57 PM

I do whole-head reapplications as well...red does fade awfully. But I have managed to decrease how often I dye thanks to less washings and putting my hair up to protect it from the sun!! I'm thrilled about that, actually - I've only re-dyed once since late April!! Yay, me. :)

Arashi

September 1st, 2009, 07:29 PM

Me, me, me, me..!!
My hair is naturally a pale blond color. I dye it jet black. For a while, I tried to get on the henna (& indigo) bandwagon, but I've returned to the bottle.
To see all of you ladies with gorgeous, healthy, long chemically dyed hair is a huge inspiration for me. :) The first time I tried to grow out my hair with chemical dyes, I also blowfried, straightened, tore through it with a comb, used harsh sulfate shampoos and super coney conditioner, and did many other bad things to my hair, so the result wasn't all that pretty. But now that all that damaged hair and those bad habits are gone, my hair is soft, shiny, and split-end free.. and now I'm a bit more confident that it will stay that way on my journey to long hair... even with chemical dye.

I'm finally starting to believe that you truly can *gasp* chemically dye your hair and have a gorgeous, long, healthy result as long as you baby your hair in every other way. That makes me tremendously happy because I adore long, black hair and don't want to sacrifice one for the other.

aada

September 2nd, 2009, 11:03 AM

I've dyed my hair for most of the past 10 years. Lately, I've decided that I won't use bleach anymore and am just dying it the same light red. I don't really have much damage and I don't have split end issues, so I am just gonna keep doing it! hahaha

I may try henna in the future, but I also want to dye the tips of my hair when it gets longer, so I have to think about which one... I have pleeeeeeenty of time before I get to my goal, so lots of time to think! ;)

cakebaker

September 2nd, 2009, 12:09 PM

I have dyed my hair off and on for years with no problem except when I started getting foil highlights about a year ago. My ends are dryer than they have ever been. I can't seem to find a hairdresser to just highlight the roots, therefore when they add more in they inevitably end up highlighting over all ready highlighted hair. Anyway, from now on I am just going to do an all over color and just have the roots done once a month or so. Menopause has been really hard on my hair and since I am wanting to grow it out I'm going to need to sacrifice something if I want more length.

ademtce

September 2nd, 2009, 12:45 PM

are they using bleach? they should never overlap lighteners - that will destroy your hair and cause it to break. i would definitely search for a new stylist/colorist.

cakebaker

September 2nd, 2009, 01:27 PM

Yes, they used bleach. And I have tried about three the past year. They invariably go over some of the same strands all the way done. Particularily in the front. I just can't cope with it anymore. I have a good stylist now, who at least listens to what I say don't do. But the highlights are expensive and I'm just afraid to chance it again any time soon. I have found a permanent tint that I like so I'm just going to stick with that.

MissFrenchTwist

September 2nd, 2009, 10:44 PM

I've been coloring my hair since I was 26 and the premature-gray started. Somewhere around the age of 37, I finally went from a too-dark brown, (the result of years of darker and darker buildup), to a streaked ash-blonde with hilights/lowlights. I love it. I'm about to turn 65 in a few months, and I'm still coloring it, and probably will continue to do so. I've added a few more inches this years, so I'm hoping to reach my goal and still have my color too.

Unofficial_Rose

September 3rd, 2009, 01:26 AM

I recently converted from henndigo to a foiled highlights dark blonde - it's darker and less brassy than it looks in my avatar (that's the flash).

I was sick of trying to cover the grey, and I'm far happier being lighter than darker. It's needed some pretty serious conditioning though. I have Aussie 3 minute miracle with Manic Panic Virgin Snow mixed in to try to eliminate any brassiness caused by tap water.

I love my new colour though. :D

tangocurl

September 3rd, 2009, 08:43 AM

soraya69

September 3rd, 2009, 09:24 AM

I have been home coloring my medium brown hair blond for many many years (can't exactly remember my original shade). Before I learned some facts about hair coloring I used to color my whole head every month which led to lots of damage. Then I started only coloring my roots every month, and things improved. I don't use bleach because the box dye I'm using lifts my color enough by itself. I have had some highlights put in once every few years just to refresh and lighten my color, but highlights = bleach and I don't want that in my hair, I'd rather put up with some brass.
I do think that coloring only the growth is not damaging, especially if you condition and take care of your hair.

Aeon F.

September 3rd, 2009, 09:34 AM

hey, how'd I miss this thread??? :waving: another chemical user here! (wait... that sounds kind of wrong! :laugh: )

I first started dying my hair dark my Jr year of high school and never looked back. ;) I just love dark brownish-black/ebony tresses! (My natural hair is some light mousy brown color. Never liked it). I always had black eyebrows and dark hair everywhere else, just not on my head! I personally thought the black eyebrows and light brown hair looked terrible. And given that almost everyone else in my family has dark hair, pale skin & blue eyes, I figured mother nature just screwed up with me. ;) So I turned to dying to remedy the situation! I had salon dyed hair for awhile (redkin, then Colory, sp?) and then I used store-bought brands in college (L'oreal mostly I think)- because I was poor! :laugh: After finding LHC, I tried the herbal methods on here to darken naturally, but it dried my hair out like straw!!!! :( After that, I was using an organic store-bought dye (from the UK), since I'd been wanting use less chemicals and it was nice (tints of nature is the brand) but at home dying is always so messy!

Then last year (or year and half ago) I think it was, I found a salon near DBF's place that uses an organic salon dye (Organics brand)- no ammonia and super low peroxide. I like it!!! (smells like roses) :D Really nice beautiful color and lasts a loooong time- I'm trying to only do 2-4 times a year dying. The bad side is cost- obviously dying your hair in a salon is way more $$$ than by yourself at home. But I honestly- I was getting really tired of the mess and hassle of trying to do it by myself and I always had a hard time getting the back of my head too.

So count me in the chemical color treated club too! :redgrin:

ericthegreat

September 3rd, 2009, 09:51 AM

As of last week, I just had an all over color. I lightened my entire head of hair from jet black to a Level 2 brown.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=3815&pictureid=49035

froglet

September 3rd, 2009, 10:08 AM

I just finished growing out and cutting off years worth of hendigo and I now dye my hair. Currently I'm using wella color charm that I buy at Sally's. Since my hair is still short, it remains to be seen how well my hair holds up to the developer. I tried growing out my grey's and really didn't care for how it looked combined with my natural brown. To each his own. :shrug:

Lady Rae

September 6th, 2009, 01:10 PM

I have two bleached streaks in the front of my hair and a bleached underside so that I can do stuff with unnatural colors. I really love long hair, my own is past mid back (but still not where I want it!) and I really love brightly colored hair - reds, pinks, purples, you know the deal - so this is my sort of compromise. Bleaching the underlayer was possibly a bad idea, since it was weaker and shorter than the canopy to begin with and the bleach hasn't helped that obviously.

This was when I first dyed it all together. I was quite pleased with myself.
http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/107/l_622df3a01ed84d4f884ee0d41a20a412.jpg

And here's an older pic of just the streaks.
http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/32/l_03825ec6460b6b3692ecccef68049692.jpg

I am dying to have my hair at my hips, but I don't think I've been making a huge amount of progress... I used to quietly visit this site religiously and do all sorts of hair rituals but I kind of fell off the wagon some time ago.

WaimeaWahine

September 6th, 2009, 06:05 PM

I was having a lot of problems with breakage perhaps. My ponytail was thick and at a certain point you could feel a drastic taper and not dry ends but not soft either.

Been using Graham Webb's silk repair treatment for a few weeks and that stuff is amazing. No more taper. My hair actually feels softer and looks smoother. Never would have believed it but it definitely has repaired some damage from chem coloring. :D

papillion

September 7th, 2009, 05:00 AM

I have my hair highlighted every six months or so to keep it looking blonde. I'm having some breakage problems, which I suspect are due to highlighting the same areas each time - I'll only do the roots next time and hope that prevents most of the breakage.

I have to admit that I don't colour chemically by choice; I found that a combination of Lush products kept my hair blonde much more gently, but as I can't use them any more I have to rely on harsher methods.

toodramatik

September 7th, 2009, 05:58 AM

Dyed blue black here =]]

It's my hair's first dosage of dye. It doesn't seem to mind much because it's pretty sturdy and anyway there's not much of it. It was an itch i had to scratch.. and i guess that the dye is atleast less uh daunting than a cut =]

FrozenPrincess

September 7th, 2009, 06:44 AM

I get my hair coloured at the hairdressers maybe twice a year. Its too expensive to do every 6 weeks (not to mention it takes a fair while!).

I wash once a week with a "normal" shampoo and conditioner, I dont do any fancy hair treatments.

As far as i can tell my hair is in a decent condition, feels lovely and soft:cheese:

polywednesday

September 8th, 2009, 07:28 PM

I dye my roots every month to cover the grey. It took years of dying my hair various colors before I came to the one that is what I want but that looks natural---just a shade warmer than my natural hair was. I started greying at 21, and wasn't ready for it.

I don't dye the ends (maybe once a year for a few minutes), so they just fade a bit as they get longer, and the look is similar to what the fade was in my natural hair color. Permanent hair color on roots only has been less harmful than redying non-permanent colors all the time. My hair is always frizzy when it's shorter and a bit dry looking, but that was true before dying it.

Blueglass

September 8th, 2009, 10:08 PM

Thats what my mom says, twenty years younger now that I highlight. Really the only choice with my coloring.

Syaoransbear

September 8th, 2009, 11:08 PM

I dye, and I actually have a hair appointment tomorrow to get my roots done. When I was younger I had really pretty long blonde hair but I was too young to appreciate it and take care of it properly. I'm trying to reclaim my younger hair days.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v509/Syaoransbear/EEEEEE.jpg
This is me when I was about 8 or 9. I totally miss that hair.

I get my roots done about every two-three months. I really don't care if my roots are showing, it only bothers me when I'm unable to go longer than two days without showering. When I have roots, my hair always looks greasy, and when it IS greasy it just looks disgusting. I love when my hair is freshly dyed blonde. I can go a week without showering and nobody can tell except for me.

redcelticcurls

October 1st, 2009, 12:26 AM

After a looooon gap between coloring, I got fresh color last week.

Oh, how I love the look of fresh red.

I now know I will never stop, unless I turn a shade of white/grey that just won't take red.

ericthegreat

October 1st, 2009, 12:36 AM

I know, I already made my very own thread about my new color but I felt I just had to join this thread! So yesterday I went back to the salon for my first touch up. I have 3 different and separate colors in my hair. My roots and top sections of my hair are a medium brown. The bottom sections of my hair are thick streaks of both amber and copper highlights.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=3815&pictureid=51518

redcelticcurls

October 1st, 2009, 12:41 AM

Wow, Eric, those blend so nicely, they look natural.

There is just something nice about a well done salon coloring.

Ally<3

October 1st, 2009, 02:57 AM

I'm probably one of the many in this topic trying to grow out old coloured hair. The difference between the virgin and the coloured hair is just unbelievable!

ericthegreat

October 1st, 2009, 09:35 AM

Thank you redceltic. :blossom:

I have gotten compliments on both my natural jet black color and now my new highlighted color, but with my new color for the first time I ACTUALLY love my own hair.

~GypsyCurls~

October 1st, 2009, 04:10 PM

After a looooon gap between coloring, I got fresh color last week.

Oh, how I love the look of fresh red.

I now know I will never stop, unless I turn a shade of white/grey that just won't take red.

Red is addictive! I actually quit permanent color several months ago and now only use semi-permanent. My reason for that is that it's much gentler, and since I refreshed my red so often i believe it was hurting my hair in the long run. Semi-permanent is still chemical of course, but it's much gentler for me. I use Natural Instincts and rotate between the Cinnaberry and Egyptian Plum shades.

sally_neuf

October 1st, 2009, 04:17 PM

Yes red is addictive. :( I have my hair red.. I was thinking about going natural but mmm.. maybe as my roots gets longer I'll start craving for chemical dye! Althought, I saw ones the other day with no amioniac, so maybe I'll try something less agressive.

redcelticcurls

October 1st, 2009, 08:49 PM

Shoot, it's been about 15 years or so, and my hair still grows enough to keep me happy.

I did consider going back to my natural dishwater blonde over the summer. But, uh, no, I just love the red too much. Henna really jack my hair up, and, to be honest, I prefer the color of the stuff I get done.

ericthegreat

October 1st, 2009, 09:17 PM

redcelticcurls

October 1st, 2009, 10:08 PM

Holy F***! I think I'm going to become such a color addict that I won't even remember what my natural color is! I feel so much happier, almost like dancing with my new color. Its so much lighter and warmer. I think I won't go back to my natural black for a long time if ever, I'm just having too much fun with my highlights! :cheese:

They do look great!

One of my reasons for starting this thread was to show that there are people with long hair (depending on what one thinks is long) that use color and still can manage to grow their hair out, and that we could all share tips.

I know it's unorthodox here, but I do love getting my hair colored.

Misso

October 1st, 2009, 10:42 PM

Hi all
I wanted to ask you about shedding after using dyes. I have used boxed dyes three times since beginning of July 2009 and noticed an increased shedding since then specially after the second time. Plus I have been having a major halo issue like never before.
Could all this be due to dying my hair with chemicals?

Medievalmaniac

October 2nd, 2009, 08:10 AM

Misso - it certainly could be thanks to the dye, but it could also be a natural part of your shedding cycle, especially with weather or hormonal changes involved. Have you changed anything else about your usual routine?

curlytiff27

October 2nd, 2009, 08:34 AM

i was 1.5 years virgin and Highlighted my hair to blonde in April. I loved it but my hair grows quick. I found it actually made my hair more curlier then virgin hair. i am a recovering bleach addict who lost all my hair in a bleaching/over process disaster.

This is me! Well...the part about highlights making my hair curlier! Except this last time my hair dresser added a deep conditioner to the mix and I could tell the colore is not as blonde so my roots that got highlighted last time seem so much softer. This has made me think that my hair has been growing in fine. I just need to get a grip I think! Also, I got layers put in so my neck/shoulder line is thinner looking. Plus I was...WAS taking msm and it made me hair feel too soft where I lost the curl. Has anyone else ever had a deep conditioner added to the mix and noticed that the hair feels different than the rest that is highlighted?

Tiff

ericthegreat

October 3rd, 2009, 01:00 AM

Ok guys, I've noticed a significant difference in the absorption capacity of my hair ever since I've highlighted my hair. It has been 6 weeks now since I've colored my hair. Before, I really only needed just one big helping of conditioner for my nightly CO rinse and I'd be good. But, within these past 4 weeks, I've found that my hair eats up a whole lot more conditioner now. Now, I can use a helping and a half and even two helpings of conditioner and my hair completely eats it all up. I don't even have to rinse my hair out for as long a time.

I guess what I can most accurately describe my hair as feeling after I colored it is that it stays "cleaner" and less oily, and that it can now absorb a whole lot more conditioner than it used to.

My hair doesn't feel dry at all tho. I've simply adjusted to applying more conditioner and also more oil when I do my weekly Ojon nut oil pre-shampoo treatment. It also used to be that just several drops of oil were enough to get my hair greasy. Now, my hair can drink up a handful of oil!

tangocurl

October 5th, 2009, 08:04 PM

It also used to be that just several drops of oil were enough to get my hair greasy. Now, my hair can drink up a handful of oil!

Now you understand why so many of us here are so in love with oil, oil, and more oil.....:cheese:

katydid317

October 5th, 2009, 08:19 PM

I dye my hair with regular old chemical dyes as well although I'd like to stop just because I hate keeping it up. I have never noticed much difference in my hair whether I dye it or not. It doesn't seem to get overly dry or damaged.

harley mama

October 5th, 2009, 09:59 PM

I color my hair. I am not in love with my grays yet.

Eilean

October 8th, 2009, 06:52 AM

I have been dying my hair with chemical colours for 14 years, had a 3 year Henna period but I wasn't happy with Henna. It made my hair quite dry and brittle. But at that time I did not know about healthy treatment of hair. The chemical colour has never done much damage to my hair, however I would like to learn about the after-dye treatment you use? I used to use the conditioner that is in the box but I read that it is full of silicones and I don't want to use that anymore. Any ideas?

jojo

October 8th, 2009, 12:35 PM

me me! I started highlighting again this year, id done a henna gloss but deep down I am a blond at heart!

I only have my roots done every 6 months as a salon and I can honestly say my hair feels or looks (apart from the colour) no different, I really do think heat and chemicals in shampoos and condioners are more harmful. I use sulphate free products, do a weekly DC and my hair is growing and looking fine.

morguebabe

October 8th, 2009, 02:33 PM

Theres a Chemical Color head group on here. I love coloring my hair.

amaiaisabella

October 23rd, 2009, 11:18 AM

Hi all- I recently (last night!) colored my hair for the first time in over a year. I had been a part of this thread at one point but tapered off when I started henna. My hair got a bit too red so I just put a brown dye over it to tone it a bit. The color is great, but I would like to avoid touch-ups as much as possible. I thought I read at some point in this thread that a poster recommended not washing the hair after the initial wash out for as long as possible to lock in the color. Has anyone found this to work? I didn't shampoo when I washed it out, and I know that when I do so Monday it will rinse a little dark at first, but I was hoping you all could give me tips on avoiding color fade.